Texas Sky
by Calliope'sPoem
Summary: Three newborns turn up on the Cullen's front porch. They're looking for someone who may not exist: Jasper Whitlock. Post-BD. Canon pairings.
1. Prologue

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Prologue

Jasper

I heard Peter shift uncomfortably behind me in the darkness as I stared at the water.

"Alright then. I'll go in first and provide a distraction. The rest of you, wait five minutes and then come in from the roof. Get the hostages out. Be smart and stay safe."

I turned and met the eyes of the four vampires behind me. They were all afraid. And, if I was totally honest with myself, so was I.

We were all veterans of the type of fight we were facing, and we all knew how easily this night could turn into the last night on earth for any of us. Or all of us.

I could feel the icy tendrils of their fear. Fortunately, fear was an old enemy of mine. I brushed the cold aside, and sent warm waves of hopefulness to each of my friends. When their fears were quieted, I turned back to the black water.

Only an instant before I sprang into the river, a hand lightly grasped my wrist. I paused.

"No, Jasper. It should be me." She put up a hand before I could protest. "I know that house and I know the vampires in it. You don't; that puts you at a disadvantage. I should be the one to go in first."

I sighed. We didn't have time for heroics. Heroics could get us killed. "That's just foolishness. I'm a much better fighter, and you've described the house and all the newborns you know about. And if we're looking for a distraction, nothing will distract her more than seeing me standing in her living room."

"I'm sure that's true. But it still should be me."

She paused, and I could feel her waiver between telling the truth and trying to lie. She decided on the truth.

"Listen, we all know that whoever goes in as a distraction is as likely as not to come out again. The newborns will attack the closest target and rip it apart. You _are_ a better fighter, but if we're talking about 10, 12 newborns, what difference does _that_ make? Those two are my responsibility. They could be killed because of me. I led them away from here, and in my stupidity, I led them back. I owe them. It _has_ to be me."

She stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets and sighed deeply before continuing. "Besides … Jasper, there's no one to miss me if … well, if I don't make it out."

Her eyes flickered to mine briefly before looking up river.

_Alice._

The name hung between us, without either of us saying a word. The silence was broken by the call of a nighthawk.

Her voice dropped to a whisper as she turned back to me, never raising her eyes to meet mine.

"She's seen this moment Jasper. She may be watching us right now. And she's _begging_ you to let me go in first. _Please_, Jasper. It's the right thing for all of us. I _can_ do this."

She turned away again before continuing. "And if it's humanly or inhumanly possible, I swear to you I'll get out!"

My head snapped up, and I really looked at this girl standing next to me. Her confidence was staggering, overwhelming, but I'd felt that same confidence from hundreds of newborns who never saw another battle.

What I'd never felt from any of those newborns was love.

There was love for her coven, obviously; it was natural for her to love the family she had only so recently found. But behind that there was more; I realized with a start that there was also love for _my_ family … for Alice and for me. She was willing to take the most dangerous task on herself to make sure I went home to Alice.

I remembered Carlisle's words; that, sometimes, families are made in the most unusual ways and in the most unusual places. Although he was referring to this girl and the two children that followed her, his words were equally true now.

I loved this girl.

I loved her because she loved my Alice.

I loved her because she had become something to me that I had never hoped to have.

In that moment, I understood the complexity of Edward's feelings for Renesmee. Because in that same moment, I also knew I would let her go.

Smiling, I gently took her by the shoulders and turned her towards me. I tilted her head up. She met my eyes, but her expression was vacant. I _would_ let her go, but she would know that she was part of my family before she stepped into that water.

"You know, your eyes are completely golden now." I said softly.

She smiled in response, but her eyes stayed carefully blank. Her emotions, however, were tinged with a hopefulness that I recognized from a long time ago in a diner in Philadelphia.

"They're as beautiful as you hoped they would be, darlin'." I leaned down and kissed her cheek. And, suddenly, she understood. Her eyes sparkled in the darkness. "Make sure you get out, darlin', because I really don't know what I'll do if you don't."

"I will. I promise. I'll get out." An instant later, she disappeared into the water and was gone.


	2. Trouble

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Trouble

_Six months earlier..._

Jasper

Emmett I'm not too worried about. He's too big to be fast. But it doesn't matter how fast I run, Edward is always faster. And although I can out-maneuver him any day of the week, he can pick my strategies right out of my head. So my only hope of beating him in a foot race is …

"Ouch! Alice, no fair!"

I laughed as I sprinted past where Alice had knocked Edward flat on his back with a well-timed leap from the trees. I arrived first in the family's pre-arranged meeting place and sat with my back against a boulder to wait for the others to return.

A torrent of amusement announced that Emmett would arrive next. He exploded into the clearing a moment later, barely able to contain his laughter.

"Wow, man, that was frickin' hilarious! When I passed them, Edward was trying to stand up and Alice 'stumbled' (at this, he made air-quotation marks) into him and knocked him down again!"

We laughed together as he sat down beside me. As always, Emmett's happiness was contagious.

Next, Alice and Edward ran into the clearing holding hands. Of course, Alice had charmed Edward into forgiving her in an instant, even though both he and Emmett now had to perform a dare of my choosing. Although ... Edward's emotions didn't really say "forgiven" so much as they said "trouble."

But, of course, Edward could read in both Alice's and my mind that I had not put her up to it.

So it was completely unreasonable that he was now stalking towards me.

In an instant, I evaluated my position. With the rock against my back, there was nowhere for me to go.

_Great move, Jasper, _I thought to myself._ You used to command armies, plan campaigns, strike fear into the hearts of all that saw you. Now you're too stupid to leave yourself an escape route._

Negotiation, then, was my own option. _Edward, didn't you hear me? _I thought loudly. _I didn't put her up to it. _

He crouched and sprang at me, driving me into the granite wall behind me with a snarl. I didn't defend myself.

What a difference time and place makes. At another time in my life, an attack like this one would have meant that either Edward's life or my own was over. I didn't like Edward's chances in a _real _fight. But now I let him slam me into the rock while Alice and Emmett protested.

As I may have mentioned, I can out-maneuver Edward any day.

"Edward, that's enough! What do you mean attacking Jasper! You could hurt him!" Esme cried as she ran into the clearing. She ran towards us with Carlisle on her heels. He looked at me with that knowing smile of his.

Esme put her hands on Edwards shoulders and tugged, but Edward didn't let me up.

"He deserves it Esme! He and his little freak" (Alice snorted) "are conspirators and cheats!"

He looked furious, but I could feel there was no real anger in him. But as he still had his hands around my neck, I decided to up the ante a little. I coughed.

"Oh my goodness! Edward, you're _actually_ hurting him! You let him up right now! Right now!" Esme shouted, repeatedly swatting Edward's shoulders.

"Yes, Edward you let him up right now," Alice sang out merrily from the other side of the clearing. Emmett ran over to her and gave her a high five. They both grinned at the scene in front of them. Even Carlisle was amused.

"Esme, vampires don't cough," Edward growled. "He's faking." But he took his hands off me just the same. Excellent. I slumped dramatically against the rock and rolled my eyes back in my head.

"Carlisle, do something! Jasper's hurt!" Esme was at my side in an instant supporting my weight. I shot a glance at Edward who was rolling his eyes. The others were shaking with laughing.

The moment Esme's arms were around me, I sent her waves of serenity. It was one thing to annoy Edward, but another thing entirely to actually upset Esme. She relaxed immediately and loosened her hold on me.

"I think I'll be all right Esme … eventually …."

Now even Esme was grinning at me. Suddenly, she turned and whacked Edward's shoulder again.

"You boys know I don't like it when you play rough."

Poor Esme; she lived in constant fear that one day our games would go too far and someone would actually get seriously hurt. Then again, considering the number of times her family had been threatened in the past three years, perhaps it wasn't such an unreasonable fear.

Edward was clearly preparing what he thought would be a witty comeback when his curiosity spiked. He turned his head towards Alice.

"What's shiny, Alice?"

Alice left Emmett's side and danced over to us.

"New pennies? Polished chrome? Mirrors? Sunlight on th..."

"Stop it, Alice! I only caught a glimpse, but the vision looked odd, and then you thought, 'it's shiny'. What's shiny?" His worry filled the air around me like the buzzing of flies.

I love my brother, but truth be told, he isn't much fun when separated from Bella and Nes. Bella and Rose had taken Renesmee into town that morning to visit Charlie.

"Oh, alright, but promise you won't panic," Alice said.

It was exactly the wrong thing to say to him. Edward's worry immediately graduated to full blown panic, like a wind tearing through the clearing. Of course, no one could feel the wind except me.

"Panic!" Edward shouted. "What's going on, Alice!"

It was obviously time to calm him down, for my own sake. Although I usually respected my family's right to feel however they wanted to feel, I couldn't take anymore of Edward's stress. I sent calmness wafting towards Edward, who looked at me before allowing the feelings I was offering settle him down.

We'd never actually discussed it, but Edward clearly knew that rapid mood shifts through strong emotions were difficult for me to handle.

Alice sighed before she went on. "Well, once in a long while, the future gets 'shiny,' for lack of a better term. Like a painting that's still wet. It seems to happen when someone I don't know yet makes a decision that will affect us. For example, it happened when Jasper decided to go into Philadelphia one day instead of heading further north." She smiled at me. "It happened again the day Bella decided to move to Forks, although I didn't know that at the time."

"So someone is making a decision that's changing our futures?" Carlisle asked.

"Maybe. But, Edward, before you go ballistic and rush off to check on Nes and Bella, which she will not appreciate by the way, just because the future is changing doesn't necessarily mean that anything bad is going to happen! Look, it's just shiny."

The expression on both Alice and Edward's faces became a little distant. Instinctively, I moved a little closer to Alice.

"Let's continue the hunt," Carlisle suggested. "Alice will let us know if we need to take any particular action."

"Sounds good to me." Emmett announced loudly. He grabbed Alice and tossed her on his back.

"You and Jasper wanna come with me this time, short stuff?" She giggled.

"Sure, Em. Just let … me get … my ..."

Damn. Two intrusive visions in two minutes was rarely a good sign. Emmett realized what was happening almost instantly and tightened his hold on Alice so she wouldn't slip off his back. Good man, Emmett!

Edward groaned as he watched what she was seeing. Both of their thirsts flared, which I felt like razor blades tearing down my throat. Edward grimaced and glanced in my direction, briefly feeling both revulsion and pity before he crammed those feelings down.

"Wait!" Alice cried as she came back. "Let me down, Emmett."

Her fear hit me like a wrecking ball. She loped over to me as I enveloped her with all of my love for her. I wrapped my arms around her as everyone gathered.

She straightened herself up. "There's two hikers ahead. One of them has fallen off some rocks and injured himself. There's a lot of blood." She looked at me. "We can't go that way."

Well, _I_ couldn't go that way certainly. Now I understood why Alice was frightened and Edward was disgusted. It was obvious what they had seen me do. The others probably would have been fine, as long as they weren't actively hunting, when they came across the hikers.

But just the thought of the injured hiker made it difficult for me to think straight. What were they doing this far into the woods anyway? Even if they disappeared _accidentally_, no one would ever find them out here. There were lots of things, other than me, that posed a threat to them in the deep woods. If they were going to be so careless, I certainly couldn't be expected to refrain from...

Edward cleared his throat noisily.

Get a hold of yourself, I thought. Focus on Alice_._

Carlisle was looking at Edward, who answered his unspoken question. "Yes, I know where they are. We can reach them quickly. Of course, we'll have to carry the hiker out at human speed."

"Alright. Emmett, if you'd please come with Edward, Esme, and me. It will look the least suspicious if you carry the injured man."

"No problem," Emmett responded, flexing his muscles. It was true; no one would be the least bit surprised that someone who looked like Emmett could carry a man without breaking a sweat.

"I think I'd better go with Alice and Jasper," Esme said. "Not many humans go hiking in a skirt and heels. Besides I haven't hunted yet. I'm sure I can find something on the way home."

She kissed Carlisle lightly before walking over to where Alice and I stood. Alice took my hand and gently pulled me towards the trees.

_Regret. Concern._

Something was wrong. I stopped and turned Alice towards me. I brushed a speck of dirt from her cheek.

"What's wrong, darlin'? What aren't you telling me?"

"It's just … I think I should go with Carlisle and the others to find the hikers. Something is changing, something big. I can't tell if the visions are related, but it seems like I should be there in case the future decides to sort itself out. But I don't want you to have to go home without me."

She looked into my eyes, and I didn't need her to go on; she didn't want to leave me in case I couldn't handle the thought of the hikers in the woods.

I smiled sadly. If I wasn't so damned weak, she wouldn't have to choose between doing what she thought was right and staying with me. Although I never particularly wanted to let her out of my sight, I really was in control of myself now. I'd be fine, and I knew Edward and Carlisle and Emmett wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Go then. I'll just go back to the house with Esme."

Alice's smile could set the forest on fire. She was so proud of me that I couldn't help a sheepish smile. It was ridiculous really; Alice was proud of me for not rushing off to kill two helpless hikers when no one else was even considering such a thing.

Even standing on her tip toes, I had to lean down to kiss my Alice goodbye.

She waved and then blurred into the woods behind Edward. On the assumption that he could still hear me, I thought, _Look after her, Edward. Alice's visions make me nervous too_.

I turned towards back towards Esme who put her arm around my shoulders. I forced myself not to flinch. After all these years, it still made me uncomfortable to be casually touched, by anyone except Alice, that is. But Esme just couldn't help touching her "kids." It was one of the ways she showed her love. But sometimes I wished I could remind her that I could _feel_ her love; she didn't really need to touch me.

"Thank you for going home with me, Jasper. It's so much nicer to have company."

Amazingly, there wasn't a hint of pretext in Esme's aura. She honestly felt like I was taking her home, not the other way around.

"My pleasure, ma'am," I drawled as I gently pulled out of her embrace.

"Such a gentleman," she laughed as we blurred into the woods.

ooooo

Hunting with Esme was unlike hunting with any other member of the family.

As impossible as it sounded, she was gentle with her meals. I'd already hunted with Alice, so I hung back while Esme hunted. I knew if I got too close, it was possible my instincts would take over, so I waited for her in the low branches of an oak tree.

The deer she was stalking barely startled as she approached. She lay the animal on its side rather than throwing it to the ground. Her hands seemed to stroke the animal rather than pin it down. And out of everyone in the family, her thirst was the easiest for me to bear because it was the least like my own.

Esme finished her meal and stood, looking around for me with honey-colored eyes. I sprang from my perch in the trees and approached her.

"Ready to go home?" I asked.

"I am," she answered. "Don't you want to hunt again before we go back."

I shook my head and turned for home. I set only a moderate pace so that Esme could keep up.

"Try not to worry, honey. I'm sure everything will be alright. Alice and the others will be home before you know it."

I grinned. "I thought I was the empath, Esme? But you seem have a pretty good read on me right now."

"Well, you're not much of a mystery anymore, Jasper."

Now we were both laughing.

"I know, I know. They're just going to carry an injured hiker into town and then they'll come home. How much trouble could two humans give them? Especially with Edward and Alice to advise on what actions will be the least likely to arouse suspicion."

We slowed as the house came into view. Esme was offering me a stream of comforting words, but as soon as we crossed the strangers' path, I couldn't hear her anymore.

In a fraction of a second, I had Esme behind my back and had fallen into a defensive crouch.

There were three of them: a male and two female. The smaller female sat on the porch steps while the two others stood above her on the porch. As we came into view, the female on the porch gave a soft growl and the seated girl quickly went to her side. The male and the small female, just a child really, had violent crimson eyes. The other female's eyes were darker, but they still shone a fierce ruby red. They all stared at me.

Newborns. On our front porch.

Esme wasn't as frightened as she should have been. But, of course, she might not have realized what she was looking at. I saw the signs immediately though. They were Southerners; even the smallest was scarred. The older of the two females was in charge; the others flanked her. Well, the male flanked her anyway. The small female looked too weak to do much of anything in a fight. All three of them were apprehensive, although only the little female looked frightened.

I fought back a growl. What the hell was going on here. And why hadn't Alice warned us that these vampires were at the house. I touched my pocket and realized with a start that my phone was in Alice's bag. The phone in the house started to ring.

The female in command didn't look at the other two. But her hand twitched and she turned her head slightly; I heard the male growl in protest. I remembered when I too could command with a glance or a flick of a hand. These newborns had obviously been born into an army.

The female was instantly alone at the bottom of the stairs. Her next moves would tell me her intentions. She glanced at Esme and me and … slowly lowered her head. She intended to submit.

The little female on the porch whimpered and the male put a hand on her shoulder.

The newborn female approached me slowly with her hands open at her sides. Esme started to move to my side, but I pushed her behind me again. Until I knew what these strangers wanted, my primary responsibility was to protect her.

The female continued towards us with her head down. I could take her right now if I chose, but that would leave Esme unprotected if the other two came at her. I gave a low growl but held my attack. The newborn hesitated briefly before continuing towards us with her head down.

She stopped twenty feet in front of us. If she truly intended to submit, she would speak first. I prayed Esme would take my lead and say nothing.

The silence lingered for a moment.

"I'm Rebecca," the newborn drawled. I knew a fellow Texan when I heard one.

"Behind me are Ana and Tex." Her gaze flickered up to my scarred face, and I felt her carefully managed fear spike. Good. Hopefully, my scars would give her a healthy respect for what I could do to her if she decided to attack Esme or me.

Oddly enough, in addition to fear, I felt growing excitement from this girl called Rebecca.

"What do you want here?" I growled.

"We've come from the south. We left Texas three months ago. We've been looking for someone since then." She hesitated. "Someone we weren't sure actually existed … until now."

"Who are you looking for, dear?" Esme asked from behind me.

"Jasper Whitlock, ma'am."


	3. Calling

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Calling

Rebecca

I'd given the strange pair our names and told them who we were looking for. I'd asked for nothing in return and had totally submitted to the scarred vampire standing in front of me. I'd put my life on the line and put Ana and Tex in danger. If this truly was Jasper Whitlock, and if the stories were true, then I was probably safe. Of course, if I was wrong, we were all three in big trouble.

But he certainly matched the description I'd been given down south. He was covered in battle scars like any veteran of the wars would be. He and the kind-looking woman had yellow eyes like I had never seen before. And they had a permanent home; I could smell that a number of vampires frequented this house and the little house we had passed in the woods nearby. If this wasn't Jasper Whitlock, he was doing a damn fine impression of him.

I heard the name Jasper Whitlock for the first time when I was only a few days old. I had just returned from my first battle - a total victory. Maria had rewarded us with as much of the city's blood as we could drink. I remember nothing of my first three or four meals, but I do remember feeling unsettled as I let the body of my fifth meal drop, a spark of remorse left over from my human life. I left the city before the others and returned to the ranch where I had been born.

Maria saw me return alone and called me into the main house. She set a number of worn maps in front of me.

"I have great hopes for you," she said with a smile. "I watched you for days on that university campus before I chose you. I want to see what you can do planning an actual battle instead of just discussing one."

I vaguely recalled that I had been a college student. Had I studied military history? Perhaps I had. I spread the maps out on the table before me, and I was amazed to discover what I could recall. I planned Maria's next battle around one of Alexander the Great's campaigns in Persia.

Maria was delighted. She said I had found my calling.

She stood behind me and stroked my hair. "It's been a long time since I had a decent tactician." She wandered towards the open door, speaking softly. "I don't expect you to be a second Jasper Whitlock, but I think you'll turn out well enough."

That night, I asked one of the older vampires – he was almost two – who this Jasper Whitlock was.

Pedro hadn't met him, but he'd heard stories. They were so fanciful that he didn't believe this Jasper character had ever really existed. Frankly, neither did I.

Jasper Whitlock was eight feet tall. He survived the wars for almost nine decades at Maria's side. He was covered in battle scars from head to toe, and he had never lost a fight.

So far, the story was unlikely, but still _possible_. But here's where the story became totally improbable.

He could strike his enemies down from a hundred yards away. He could reduce them to trembling heaps crying out for their mommies, or their makers. He controlled Maria's coven for her, and under his command, the army had swelled as high as 30! Pedro scoffed at this; he'd never seen the army larger than 18. And that hadn't gone well.

But most impossible of all: _one day he'd simply left_. He'd had everything, _everything_, that I could ever imagine one of our kind wanting, and he'd walked away. One day, he left Maria without saying goodbye and headed north.

"Why'd he leave?" I asked Pedro with a chuckle.

"You'll _love_ this. He left for _peace_."

I laughed with Pedro, but, in truth, I was shaken to the core by the thought: _Peace._

I'd only fought one battle, but I didn't much care for it. Yet all I could see was a line of future battles stretching out before me with no possibility of anything else. How else could we get blood? And after only a single battle, I saw no hope for survival in this world without a coven to watch your back. Maria said this was what life was like for our kind, and I had no reason to doubt her. I was her new strategist; in time, I would become her second-in-command. But already, I felt myself longing for something different.

I decided that was what the Jasper Whitlock legend was _really_ about: wanting something different than this life, and actually getting it. It was a dream, a fairy tale, spun to convince us that if we just survived long enough, something good could happen to us too.

Imagine my surprise when I met someone who actually knew him.

I was almost three and nowhere near as physically strong as the dozen newborns I was in charge of controlling. I could take any one of them down without difficulty, and probably could take any pair of them as well. However, there was always a danger, especially when they were all cooped up together, that they would decide to gang up on me. So, I often went for runs alone in the woods after they were all in the house and forbidden to leave for the night. The newborns respected me more if I only appeared to give orders, administer punishments, and offer rewards. Better to be feared than loved, I reckoned.

Near the old Spanish mission on Maria's land, I crossed a stranger's path and was instantly enveloped in darkness. I crashed to the ground and felt frantically around for my surroundings. I growled and snarled as I heard the other vampire approach, but without sight, I had no idea where I should run.

"I'm not a threat!" I snarled. "I didn't know you were here!"

I sat in total darkness while the other vampire questioned me. Other than telling me her name, which was Zafrina, she wouldn't answer my questions directly. She wouldn't tell me where she was from or where she was going. But I answered all of her questions; blind as I was, I didn't have much choice.

Finally I asked her how she had blinded me.

She laughed, but the sound wasn't unkind.

"Young one, I can make you see anything I want you to see or I can make you see nothing at all!"

My face must have betrayed my shock.

"Haven't you ever met a vampire with a gift before?"

I had not and I told her so.

"Are there others who can do what you do?" I blurted.

"Not precisely what I do, but there are many types of gifts. Vampires who can read minds and cause pain. Vampires who can leave you so confused that you forget your own name. Vampires who can track you anywhere you may go."

I shuddered. The world was even more dangerous than I thought.

Zafrina went on. "I'm surprised you've never met anyone with a gift, considering the number of vampires created in this place."

"Maybe vampires have to be created by someone with a gift to have a gift themselves," I suggested.

"No. The one who created me had no particular gift. And this vampire who created you, Maria, has created vampires with gifts although she has none."

"You've met other vampires created by Maria?" I asked surprised. "And they had gifts?"

"Oh yes, young one. Not two weeks ago in the north. I was with an entire coven of gifted vampires. They have a permanent residence in the north. I believe the one called Jasper was created by your Maria."

"Jasper Whitlock!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know his human name, but he can make you feel happy in the grip of darkest despair. He can make you feel terrified on the happiest day of your life. He and his mate are two of the most gifted vampires I have ever encountered. His mate can see the future with her yellow eyes."

"She has yellow eyes? Why is that?"

"The entire coven has yellow eyes. Something to do with diet, I think." It sounded as if she was trying not to laugh.

Jasper Whitlock was a real person ... well, a real vampire anyway. I was about to ask another question when, suddenly, I could see again. I was on my feet in a instant, spinning around, looking for the woman.

But she was gone.

And I wasn't going back to the ranch.

I was going north.

Less than ten minutes into my flight, I was brought up short by the scent of a vampire I knew. I spotted Tex, one of my newborns, beside a scrub pine tree, crouched to spring. Tex had been added to the army only a few months before, when Maria was building up our numbers before a particularly fierce battle. He was a good fighter, and I had hopes that he would survive his first year.

He relaxed when he recognized me. He shouldn't have. In an instant, he was pinned against the tree.

"What are you doing out of the house?" I snarled at him.

His gaze flickered a few yards away. Cowering in the darkness was a little vampire called Ana. She whimpered softly.

"It was getting a little rowdy back home. It wasn't safe for her, so I took her out."

I pulled him off the tree and slammed him onto the ground. I dug my fingers into his neck.  
"Are you allowed to leave the house without permission?" I demanded.

I slammed his head hard into the ground.

"Let him go!" Ana screamed. She was at my side in an instant trying to pull my hands off Tex's neck. I brushed her off and sent her flying through the air. She hit the ground like a boulder, but instead of the attack I expected, she crumpled into a ball and began rocking back and forth.

Tex and I looked at each other surprised before I let him up. He flashed to Ana's side and knelt beside her without touching her.

"There, there, sweetheart," he consoled. "Don't get so upset. I'm fine. Bec wasn't really going to hurt me. She's just angry I took you out of the house, but she doesn't really mean any harm."

I snorted. I fully intended to whup both of their butts for leaving the house without permission, but then I remembered that I wasn't going back to the house. As far as I was concerned, they could all do as they pleased.

"Go home," I ordered.

Ana looked up at me with glassy eyes. "Where are _you _going?" she asked.

I don't know why I answered her.

"Away. I'm going north."

"Really?" she said with sudden excitement. "Can Tex and me come too?"

"No. Go home, and try not to get yourself killed, o.k.?"

"Actually," Tex said slowly as he stood and turned towards me, "our best hope of not getting ourselves killed is _not_ to go back to the house. And I think your best hope of not getting killed is strength in numbers."

He was right. The world was a dangerous place for a vampire alone.

"You wanna go north?" I asked him skeptically.

"No, not really. But I don't have any interest in going back to that house if _you're_ not going back. Either you know something we don't know - like we're about to be attacked or fight a battle we can't win or something like that - or you've found something better, something worth leaving for. Besides I don't really want to think about what that house will be like when the others figure out that you're not coming back to keep them in line."

He was right again. It would be a madhouse. Maria would have to step in herself to keep order, and that wouldn't be pretty.

It occurred to me that once I left, I could never go back again. Maria would give orders to have me killed on sight. We had never been friends exactly - she was too ruthless to have real friends - but I had a healthy respect for her and we had a good working relationship. I couldn't say I was sad exactly that the relationship was over.

And I was surprised by Tex. I knew little Ana clung to him like a lost puppy, but he was genuinely interested in looking after the girl. Loyalty was good. I could use loyalty. And he was smart; he had sized up my situation and his own in an instant and made a reasoned decision to leave with me. I could use someone with a brain. Heaven knows they were few and far between in Maria's army. Ana was totally useless, of course, but if she was the price of having Tex come with me, then so be it.

"Fine. You can both come with me. But here's the rule. For as long as you stay with me, you follow my orders, got it? You can leave whenever you want, but while you're with me, I'm in charge. Agreed?"

"Hooray!" shouted Ana, clapping her hands wildly. I growled at her, and she shrunk back behind Tex.

"And here's your first order on this little pleasure cruise of ours; try to keep it down, would ya?"

We headed north for a couple of weeks, hunting in the big cities we came to in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Ana had never seen the ocean, and that seemed as good a destination as any. Of course the beaches of sunny Southern California were out, so I planned to take them north as far as Omaha and then we'd cut west through Denver and over the Rockies to the beaches of Northern California. Along the way, I told them what I'd learned about gifted vampires and about Jasper Whitlock in particular.

"Yeah, but Bec, the world is a big place. How do you think we're gonna find him?"

"I don't have any idea. I'm not really lookin' for him, you know? But Zafrina said she had been with him two weeks before I met her, so his coven can't be that far away. All I know is that the world is more complicated, more dangerous, than any of us knew."

"Than Maria ever told us," Tex added.

"Absolutely. She didn't really expect any of us to survive long enough for our lack of knowledge to become a problem. But if we three are going to survive, we need someone to show us the way. Honestly, I don't care who that person is; when I said we're lookin' for Jasper, I really just meant we're lookin' for help. For a way out of Hell."

"I'm thirsty," Ana moaned.

Hell, indeed.

We hit the beach north of Eureka near Redwood National Park. Ana was mesmerized. She would sit on the sand just watching the waves for as long as we would let her. She would drag seaweed behind her making tracks in the sand. She would gather up all the driftwood she could find and make huge piles. With the notable exception of the day she got tar in her hair (and I threatened to cut it all off if it happened again), she was extremely happy. Although Tex and I both felt exposed and vulnerable on the beaches, we hugged the coast for Ana as we traveled north.

One morning, while Ana swam in the cold water, Tex and I discussed our options. We figured we were less than a day from the U.S./Canada border.

"Damn, and I forgot my passport," Tex quipped.

It seemed like a big moment. We'd all been created in Texas, although we'd been brought south against our will while we were changing to fight near Monterrey. But now we were deliberately leaving the U.S. behind, shaking off one more human rule, even if it was as stupid as you couldn't leave your homeland without your passport.

But we'd have to go inland to cross the boarder. Something was wrong with the beach to the north of us. It stunk to high heaven, but not at all like fish. It smelled like a filthy wet animal, and something about the scent made us all extremely nervous.

We hadn't gone far inland before we caught the scent of other vampires. Their trails, old and new, were everywhere. Tex tried to hide it, but he was clearly afraid. First the scent on the beach, and now vampire trails for at least six vampires. His low growl became an almost constant thing. There was no way the three of us could take on an army of six. But I insisted that we press on.

"You're insane!" Tex snarled at me. "You're going to get us all killed!"

I growled dangerously as I got in his face.

"I. Am. In. Charge. If you don't like it, then you leave. But if you're staying with me, than shut up and get behind me _now_!"

He hesitated, and I flung him to the ground. Seeing red, I spun around and prepared to attack. Tex had clearly gotten too comfortable with me, and needed a reminder that I could still end him if I chose. He might still be stronger than me, but I had the experience to bring him down. It looked like this might finally be the moment.

We were both crouched, snarling furiously, as Ana came skipping up. She skidded to a halt, looking like a deer caught in the headlights, and dropped the wildflowers she had been carrying.

"Stop it," she whispered. "I hate it when you two fight."

She looked at Tex.

"We promised. Bec is in charge, remember?"

He growled. Neither of us had straightened out of our attack postures, but Ana came and stood between us anyway, facing me and purring softly.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked me.

I nodded and pointed the direction I wanted her to go. She started off into the woods.

"Tex, you coming too?" she called.

He straightened up and, after giving me a death-glare, followed Ana into the woods.

I ignored them as I paid attention to the trails. They merged as the vampires who had left them met and continued on together. At least six, maybe as many as eight, vampires. Plus a couple of weird trails I couldn't identify.

Tex, as usual, was right; this _was_ seriously stupid. I had been hoping to meet a single vampire - capture him or her, if necessary - and then find out what we could about life in the north. But here I was following the trail of a medium-sized army into territory that I knew nothing about. I was hopeful that, if we actually came upon them, they wouldn't see our small force as a threat. Back in Monterrey, we wouldn't have bothered a small group wandering through our territory as long as they weren't part of a rival coven.

Well, we _probably_ wouldn't have bothered them.

I fell a bit behind Ana and Tex. My decision to pursue these vampires wasn't completely unconsidered though. Although I hadn't mentioned my concerns to the others, I was more than a little troubled that we hadn't yet seen any other vampires since we left Monterrey. We had come across a few old trails, but nothing more recent than three or four weeks old. I couldn't help feeling like wandering around without knowing the rules wasn't a good idea. We needed information, and we needed it soon. I knew it sounded like desperation, but I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity without good reason. If these vampires were amicable, we might get some of the information we sought. If not, I was confident that we could retreat.

"Look, it's like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' house!" Ana cried from ahead.

I sprinted to catch up with her and nearly slammed into Tex's back when I came upon them in the little clearing.

The stone house was beautiful. It was made of the same local rock that we had seen for days. Flowers had been carefully planted in pristine garden beds around the front path. There were curtains in the windows and white fluffy smoke curled from the little stone chimney. It really did look like a cottage in a fairy tale.

And a couple of vampire trails ended right at its front door.

Weird.

No one was actually in the little house, so we pressed on. Only a few minutes later, I actually did slam into Tex's back as we came into another clearing. Tex stumbled into the shallows of a small river and came up snarling. I put my hands up and purred in apology.

"Wow," Ana said.

She was awestruck. I tried to be nonchalant about it, but I was pretty impressed too. Opposite us, on the other side of the river, was a lawn and then a wall of glass. Sunlight reflected off the windows and made them sparkle. There were garden beds full of roses and lavender and other sweet smelling flowers whose names I didn't know. The breeze wafted their scents towards us. The house itself was shaded by a number of large trees so that the entire porch was dark. Although the place was crawling with vampire trails, I couldn't hear or smell anyone in the house.

"What do we do?" Tex asked softly.

"We'll just pay them a friendly call." I gestured for Tex to follow me a few steps away from Ana, who was kicking small stones into the water. "Listen, we need answers. If we don't present ourselves as a threat, there's no reason for these vampires to be hostile."

Tex nodded. Ana started to walk towards the house. I rushed to her and grabbed her by shoulder. She squeaked in surprise.

I put all the command force I could muster into my words. "Both of you are going to follow my lead. When they show up, you're gonna stay behind me. Got that?"

I nodded towards the house and both of them got the picture. Tex followed me up onto the porch while Ana sat down on the bottom step and started picking little weeds from between the flagstone.

"You know what?" Ana said looking up with a grin as she wiped her hands on her jeans. "Maybe Jasper Whitlock lives here!"

Tex and I laughed.

Yeah right.

ooooo

"I'm Jasper. This is Esme. The rest of our family will be returning soon."

_We'd actually found him! _I suppressed a smile. The situation was still tense. He wanted us to know they had numbers.

Don't screw this up Bec. Just keep it light and friendly.

Wait, did he say the rest of his _family_ would be returning soon? Wierd choice of words.

"You have no idea how pleased we are to find you, sir. May Ana and Tex come down?"

"Of course, dear" the woman said with a smile. Jasper didn't look quite as enthusiastic about the idea. The woman called to my companions, which I wasn't too enthusiastic about myself.

"Please come down and say hello."

I suppressed a growl and Jasper eyed me warily.

Ana sprang off the porch and was leaning against my side in an instant.

"Hello," she offered shyly.

Tex hung back and nodded. We never met others of our kind without the security of our coven behind us.

The phone in the house rang again. No one moved.

"Your phone is ringing," Ana offered helpfully.

"That's probably Alice calling," Jasper said quietly over his shoulder.

"Your mate who can see the future?" Tex challenged.

Everything happened quickly then.

In a flash, Jasper was towering over Tex, snapping and snarling murderously. Ana retreated to an enclosed corner of the porch, perhaps one of the least defensible positions I could think of; that girl really was going to get herself killed one day. She was squealing like a stuck pig. And Tex was ... cowering. That wasn't like Tex _at all_. But it did fit the description I'd been given of what Jasper could do.

I stepped in at once. "Tex, _back off!_ Ana, _shut up!_" I grabbed Tex by the back of the neck and flung him out of Jasper's reach.

Now Jasper and I stood toe to toe; I wouldn't back down this time. I held his gaze. We growled at each other, teeth bared.

Suddenly, I felt cold ... and terrified. I tried to shrug the feelings off, but I couldn't. I felt like a child lost in the dark. I felt like the ground beneath my feel wasn't solid, like my knees would buckle, but still I held his gaze. I knew I was shaking, but I would not break eye contact with him.

"_Jasper, please_," I heard the woman, Esme, call desperately.

And, just like that, the darkness vanished. I felt calm. I took a couple of steps back, never taking my eyes off Jasper. I opened my clenched fists and both Ana and Tex returned to their positions behind me.

"Tex didn't mean anything by that, sir. I wasn't told much about you or your coven before we left Monterrey. That was one of the few pieces of information we had."

Jasper looked startled. "You're from Monterrey?" he asked.

"No, sir, I'm from Corpus Christi, raised in San Antonio. I just, until recently, _worked _in Monterrey."

The phone kept ringing. Ana came and leaned into my side.

"Their phone is _still_ ringing," she whispered to me.

Esme smiled at her. With apparently no thought of her own safety, she had come to stand beside Jasper. Even after the fight that had almost broken out in front of her, she looked serene and gentle. She addressed herself to Ana.

"Would you like to come in the house, dear? Jasper can answer the phone, and you can tell me all about yourselves."

Ana looked at me and nodded furiously.

I forced a smile. "Yes, ma'am. I think we'd like that."

Ana immediatly turned towards the house while Tex waited for us at the bottom of the stairs. Esme reached out and placed her hand lightly on Ana's shoulder.

Ana shrieked and sunk her teeth into Esme's forearm.

**AN: Thank you to everyone who has kindly left reviews or PM'd me to let me know what you think! I am doing my best to reply to all of them. Calliope**


	4. Changes

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Changes

Jasper

I watched Esme stretch her arm out, but I honestly couldn't believe she would actually try to _touch_ a strange Southern newborn, no matter how small and helpless that newborn looked.

With my attention focused on the more dangerous members of the trio, I had foolishly allowed Esme to move a few steps away from me and toward the small girl. Before I could stop her, Esme laid her hand on Ana's shoulder, and the startled newborn sunk her teeth into Esme's arm.

In the blink of an eye, Rebecca had Ana pinned on the ground. Ana was thrashing and screaming, almost as if she was the one who had been bitten. Her terror washed over me, roiling my stomach.

Tex was there an instant later. He stood in front of Ana and Rebecca, shielding them. He growled and I understood his question: would I attack them? I shook my head and backed it up with a wave of peace. In a flash, he was also kneeling on the ground, whispering calming words and purring at the screaming, terrified child.

Ana was beyond hysterical. Her level of fear far exceeded the situation – I clearly wasn't going to attack them and she had her coven-mates by her side. But the girl had completely lost touch with her surroundings.

She was so helpless, so pathetic really, I couldn't understand why anyone would have changed her. It was impossible not to pity her. And although I had no particular reason to help her, I didn't like feeling her unmitigated terror. I calmed the child with waves of comfort and tranquility.

Ana continued to quake, but she quieted. Tex lifted her in his arms and blurred into the woods. Rebecca backed up into the woods after them.

"We'll come back ... if you'll let us."

She disappeared.

Esme was clutching her arm and trembling. I scooped her up and ran into the house, ignoring the ringing phone for the time being. The sooner I dealt with the venom in Esme's arm, the less pain she would feel and the smaller the scar would be. I put her down on the couch in the living room before rushing up to Carlisle's office.

I returned with a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a roll of gauze. I sat next to Esme on the sofa. She had stopped breathing and had curled up into a ball holding her arm to her chest.

"Let me see," I murmured, sending her a shower of relaxation before prying her arm away from her chest. I looked into her eyes. "Try to breathe normally."

I held Esme's arm gently as I pulled the torn sleeve back from her arm. I was immediately relieved to see that the bite, while deep, was clean and the skin was only punctured, not torn. I held an alcohol soaked wad of gauze to the wound.

Esme let out the breath she had been holding.

"I can't believe I tried to touch her. That was entirely my fault, wasn't it?"

"No, it wasn't," I said grimly. "It was my fault. I expected trouble; I should have been more on my guard. "

Now that it was clear that Esme would be alright, the tension was fading. I gave her a half smile. "For what it's worth though, I can't believe you tried to touch her either."

She gave a shaky laugh. I threw the first piece of gauze into the kitchen sink and pressed another piece of alcohol soaked gauze to her arm. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Venom, as powerful as it is, is surprisingly delicate. Even rubbing alcohol will cause it to break down. The more venom I can mop up, the less that bite is going to burn."

I tore off a long piece of gauze and tightly wrapped Esme's forearm to minimize the scar. Carlisle would probably re-wrap it when he got home, but I had done my best. I focused on surrounding Esme with a fog of lethargy, which would numb the pain of the bite.

Esme scooted next to me on the couch and put her head on my shoulder. As much as I disliked physical contact, I owed it to her now. Direct contact would increase the amount of relief I was able to give her.

"Thank you, Jasper." I felt Esme relax against my shoulder and I put my arm around her. We sat like that for a long time.

"Do you think they'll come back?" Esme asked drowsily as we watched the sun begin to set out the back window.

"Rebecca wants to. Tex doesn't, but Rebecca will pull rank. And Ana, well, she's a muddle. When they took her away, she felt nothing but fear. I have no idea whether she wants to come back or not."

Esme was silent for a moment. "What's wrong with the little girl?" she finally asked.

I shrugged. "She's too young, probably. Not 'immortal child' young, obviously, but still too young to have been turned. And she's lived her life thus far in a world of unspeakable violence. You can't imagine how that affects someone as young as she is."

I, on the other hand, didn't have to imagine. I could remember several occasions where Maria took someone who was too young or too immature. They were irreparably damaged and always caused trouble before I was forced to destroy them.

"Poor thing," Esme whispered.

Our family was returning. I could feel Carlisle's full-blown panic and everyone else's deep concern, so Alice had obviously filled them in on what had occurred.

I stood up to make room for Carlisle on the couch beside Esme.

"They're on their way back," I told her simply.

A moment later, Carlisle burst though the door. He flew to Esme and took her face in his hands, searching her eyes.

"I'm alright, Carlisle. I'm fine," she told him insistently. He gently unwrapped her arm and examined the wound. I was relieved to see that it was much less inflamed than before I wrapped it.

He looked at me, gratitude plain on his face even without my gift.

"Thank you, Jasper, for taking care of her."

I shook my head and forced myself to look Carlisle in the eye. "She should never have been bitten in the first place. I'm so sorry to both of you. This," I gestured towards Esme "never should have happened."

At that moment, Edward and Emmett came in followed by Alice. She danced over to me, holding out my silver phone and smiling. I slipped it into my pocket where it should have been all along.

ooooo

The newborns did not return that night.

Carlisle and Esme retired to their room soon after the hunting party returned. As their room was just down the hall from my study, where I now sat halfheartedly turning the pages of a biography, I could hear Esme's soft sighs as the venom burned her arm.

I felt terribly guilty; if I had been more aware, Esme wouldn't have been bitten in the first place. Esme was so soft and gentle; no one deserved to be in pain less than she did.

I continued to send Esme calming waves, even thought she was out of sight, until _she_ actually started to feel guilty.

"Jasper," she called quietly, knowing that I could hear her. "I know what you're doing, and I appreciate it. Truly I do. But please don't tire yourself out on my account. I'm alright now."

I considered my options. I wasn't tired; I could do this all week. But Esme would never listen and her guilt actually made her feel worse than the pain.

"O.k., I'll stop. But if it gets to be too much, let me know." I thought for a moment before continuing. "You know what, let me rephrase that. Carlisle, _you_ let me know if it gets to be too much. I know she won't say anything."

I heard quiet chuckling.

"Alright son, thank you."

Although Alice was confident that the newborns wouldn't return until the morning, I made a quick mental inventory of my family's locations. Carlisle and Esme were in their room. Edward and Emmett were arguing about a video game downstairs in the living room. Edward had called Bella and asked her and Nes to stay with Charlie tonight. They were probably safer there than here, and Jacob would undoubtedly stand watch over Charlie's house all night long.

Alice was in our room and Rosalie was with her. Alice was trying on her fourth outfit in five minutes and asking Rose's opinion.

"I just want to be dressed right when I meet them," Alice had offered as explanation when Rose asked her why she cared. "These newborns are important." Her silvery laughter floated down the hall.

So, these newborns were important, were they? Honestly, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Why on earth would a couple of newborns turning up on our front porch be important? Unless, of course, it was because of where they were from.

_Monterrey_.

There was only one vampire creating newborns in Monterrey. And I didn't want anything to do with _any_ Southern newborns, let alone hers.

I closed my book and tossed it on the desk. It was impossible to know what kind of game Maria thought she was playing here. I hadn't detected any subterfuge from the newborns, but with Maria at the helm, it was possible that they didn't know what she was planning either. I hadn't missed that the lead girl said they were _looking for me_, and I wasn't inclined to like them for that. With Maria, it was always deception within deception within deception. It was even possible that these children were on a scouting mission for Maria without knowing it.

I steepled my fingers under my chin as I considered the meeting this afternoon. Already, these newborns had exposed how much I had changed since my days in the south. Of course, I was proud of some of those changes – I was unquestionably a monster in those days, the stuff of horror stories and nightmares. Even after I came north with Peter and Charlotte, I wasn't anyone worth knowing until Alice found me and remade me. She didn't see the monster; she only saw the man I would become. She led me out of a very dark place and into her world - a better world.

But that was _exactly_ why some things about me couldn't be allowed to change. My family had never known anything other than this way of life – not even my Alice, whose visions allowed her to adopt our family's ways before she actually met them; and not even Edward, who still suffered terrible guilt over the short time in his early life that he had betrayed Carlisle's principles and hunted like most vampires. Only I knew firsthand what life was really like for most of our kind – horror and violence and blood. And it was my job, my price of admittance to this life, to make sure that the others never faced the dangers of the _real _vampire world. I would do anything – whatever it took – to make sure that Alice and the others never had to compromise their principles.

When the newborns came back, I wouldn't be caught off guard again.

ooooo

As the dawn broke, Alice cracked open my door and peeked her head in. Instantly, I set my book down and opened my arms to her. She slipped in, shutting the door behind her, and came towards me. I pulled her down into my lap and kissed her.

She tipped my chin up in her tiny hands and looked deeply into my eyes.

"It's going to be okay, Jazz," she said confidently. "Try not to worry."

"What do they want here Alice?" I asked in a whisper.

Her perfect face fell. "I … I'm not entirely sure." She looked sheepish. "I can't see their futures clearly yet. I think there are some decisions to be made first. But there won't be any trouble today. I can see _that_ clearly."

I nodded. I trusted Alice completely, but I also knew how quickly her visions of the future could change.

She brightened. "Anyway, it's time to come downstairs. They'll be here in three minutes."

I stared at her in disbelief for a split-second before setting her on her feet and rushing out the door. She followed me into the hall and down the stairs.

"Jazz, there's no need to be in such a hurry!" she called.

I spun around to face her. "Alice, didn't I ask you to give me some warning before they came back?"

"Yes," she smiled at me. "That was your warning. They'll be here in three minutes. Well, two minutes and fifty seconds now."

It was impossible for me to be angry with her, but I was frustrated that no one seemed to be taking this seriously. Three Southern newborns – three of _Maria's_ newborns – would be at our door in minutes. _Damn it, one of them had already bitten Esme._ But my family was gathered in the living room as if we were casually expecting company.

I addressed myself to Carlisle. "We should meet them on the porch. You, me, Emmett, and Edward. Make a show of strength. Find out what they want before we make any more decisions." I looked at Alice, who was rolling her eyes.

_Remorse._ I looked at Esme.

"Jasper, I'm certain the little one didn't mean to bite me. I startled her. Before that happened, they didn't seem adversarial in any way. I'd hate for my mistake to cause this to go badly."

"Esme, this is about controlling the situation. Nothing more."

Edward gazed at me skeptically, but I studiously ignored him.

"Come on then," Emmett said with a grin as he headed for the door. "Let's get out there."

The four of us waited on the porch. We didn't have to wait long. The trio emerged from the woods on the far bank of the river, with Tex holding Ana's hand. After exchanging a glance with the others, Rebecca jumped the river and came towards us at a human pace. Her gaze passed briefly over each of us, sizing us up, before she lowered her head.

As she neared the porch, Carlisle stepped forward and down the steps. I suppressed the urge to grab him and pull him back. Carlisle was in charge and I would have to trust him. He hadn't survived for more than three centuries by being careless or foolish.

Rebecca stopped her approach immediately. Her hands clenched into fists before she quickly released them.

"Hello," Carlisle said simply. "We're glad you decided to come back."

"We weren't sure you would be," Rebecca responded cautiously. On the far side of the river, Ana hung her head.

Carlisle smiled an easy smile. I knew Esme had explained to him how she had been injured and placed most of the blame on herself. "We know that what happened before was a misunderstanding."

In a flash, Ana stood beside Rebecca. I felt Emmett and Edward tense, but there was no aggression in the girl. Knowing Edward could hear me, I looked at Emmett and shook my head.

"I'm really, _really_ sorry, sir." Ana said, radiating sincerity. She sought out each of our eyes in turn. "I got frightened and completely overreacted. I do that … sometimes. But I'm really sorry."

Rebecca looked down at Ana with a cold expression. "Did I ask you to come across the river yet?"

Ana grinned up at her as Tex joined them. "Not yet, but you were about to. Besides why should you have to apologize for me when I was right there." She gestured towards the river.

"I'm Carlisle Cullen," Carlisle began. "This is Emmett, and Edward." He gestured to each of them in turn. "You've already met Jasper, of course."

All three of them turned towards me, anticipation and excitement clear in their emotions although Rebecca and Tex controlled their expressions. Only the little one's face lit up with eagerness.

"Yes, sir." Rebecca drawled. "We've heard of you in the south. Of course, none of us knew you were anything more than a legend."

Emmett snorted and punched my shoulder playfully. "Hear that, Jasper?" he teased. "You're famous!"

I was not amused. Ignoring Emmett, I spoke sharply. "What do you want here?"

Rebecca was taken aback but recovered quickly. "We were passing though when we crossed your coven's trails. We just wanted to see who was in the area."

"We wanted to ask some questions." Ana piped up. Both Tex and Rebecca wheeled on her with snarls, and the girl whimpered.

Rebecca turned back to me and sighed. I felt her waiver between telling a lie or the truth. She settled on the truth. Of course, she had no idea that Edward and I would know if she decided to lie. She held her hands out, palms up, and lowered her head in submission.

"Look, you're the first of our kind we've come across since we left Mexico. We know there are lots of things we don't know about life in the north. I don't like playing the game without knowing the rules. We're hoping you might fill in some of the blanks for us."

"But you said you were _looking_ for me. Did Maria tell you where to find me?"

All three of their heads snapped up when I mentioned Maria's name. Fear surged through them, and this time, their emotions played openly across their faces.

"No." Rebecca said quietly with wide-eyes. "Have you told her we're here?"

Emmett snorted again. "We don't exactly keep her on speed dial," he laughed.

_Punch him for me, would you?_ Edward punched Emmett squarely in the shoulder.

"Hey!" he exclaimed in surprise, rubbing his shoulder before returning his focus to the newborns.

These three were genuinely frightened of Maria. They didn't want to be found. Perhaps she hadn't sent them here after all.

"I haven't spoken to her in nearly 40 years," I said. The newborns visibly relaxed. "But if she didn't tell you where I am, how did you find me?"

"Just lucky, I guess!" Ana called out.

Rebecca glared at the girl. The message was ice clear – don't say another word.

"We weren't looking for you _particularly_. We just wanted to find someone who could tell us what we need to know. How we ended up on your doorstep is, what some would call," she glared at Ana, "pure luck."

And, at that moment, our luck failed: the sun came out. Although I would have preferred to finish this conversation outside and away from the house, clearly the seven of us couldn't stand out here, sparkling like jewels in the sun.

"We should all get out of the sun. Would you like to come into the house?" Carlisle asked.

I glared at him, although neither Emmett, or more importantly Edward, seemed concerned. Still, I didn't like these newborns, and I didn't want them anywhere near Alice or Esme or Rose.

"Alright." Rebecca looked at Tex and Ana, and then back at Carlisle.

"Thank you," Ana added quickly. She was doing her best to be polite after her earlier actions. Social appropriateness was one of the first things lost in Maria's army, and the fact that this girl still had any manners at all was a good sign.

Carlisle led the way in. Emmett and I followed him and Edward came last; obviously, Edward could _watch_ all of our backs without actually watching the newborns. Although I wanted to go to Alice's side, I was relieved to see she was sitting in a corner chair with easy access to the kitchen if she needed to flee. I wondered if she had chosen that chair on purpose, to set my mind at ease and give me the freedom of movement I needed to protect the others.

Rebecca stopped dead in the doorway. Although she kept a half-smile on her face, her eyes darted left and right and hesitated on each of the individuals in the living room. I recognized her actions immediately. She was sizing up the room and its occupants, determining who was the greatest threat, and looking for exits and defensible positions. I had done the same thing when Alice and I first entered the Cullen's home … and many, many times after.

Finally, Rebecca took a step inside the house. Ana followed her in. She stopped abruptly when she saw Esme sitting on the couch with Rose beside her.

"Oh, ma'am! I'm _so _sorry!" she cried.

"And I'm sorry I startled you. Let's try to forget about it and start again, alright?"

Ana grinned and nodded. Rebecca gestured to a chair by the window. Ana went to it and sat down, swinging her legs.

"Won't you sit down?" Carlisle asked, gesturing to the chair across from him. It was a good move. Carlisle was offering Rebecca the chair closest to the front door with no one in between her and Ana. Of course, Rebecca wasn't likely to feel comfortable anywhere in our house, but that position would seem to her the best of bad options.

Rebecca sat down with the look of someone who hadn't sat in an actual chair in an actual living room for a while. She perched on the front three inches of the chair with her hands in her lap. I recognized the look that came from months, or years, of living outside and constantly on the move.

Tex came in last, looking around warily. He took up a position between Ana and Rebecca and stood quietly.

Carlisle introduced the women. "This is Rosalie, and Alice. And you've met Esme." He indicated each of them as he spoke their names. "There are two others in the family, but they're out at the moment."

"Yes, sir," Rebecca responded. I smirked as I felt confusion and surprise roll through her. Every nomad we had ever met had a similar reaction when Carlisle presented us as a family rather than a coven. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am, Miss Rosalie, Miss Alice," she drawled.

So she also remembered her manners, and they were pure Texas.

"I guess you already know our names, but I'm Rebecca. This is Tex, and Ana."

Suddenly, Ana gasped. Instantly, Rebecca was on her feet, upsetting the chair she had been sitting on. Both she and Tex crouched defensively, growling.

I was on my feet with the rest of my family a millisecond later, low growls filling the silence. Only Alice remained sitting in her chair with an enigmatic smile on her face. We all watched each other.

Alice happily called out to Ana. "What do you see, Ana?"

Ana was sitting on her knees looking over the back of her chair and out the window. She hadn't notice the commotion her exclamation had caused. "Miss Alice! There's a tire swing on a tree down by the river! I didn't see it before!"

Rebecca groaned and relaxed her posture. "Ana, are you _trying_ to get us all killed," she snarled as she turned her chair upright again.

Ana climbed off the chair and stood in front of Rebecca, showing her back to the entire family. "No … but Bec, I _would _like to go see the swing. _Please?_"

"Ask."

Ana grinned, and spun around to face Carlisle. "May I go swing on your tire swing please?"

"Of course."

Ana was out the door in a flash, and we could hear the chain start to creak as she began to swing.

Rebecca looked at Tex and nodded towards the door. Tex looked unsure.

"Go on. I'm fine. If they haven't killed us for Ana's stupidity yet, I don't think they're going to do it."

Tex smiled, and in a flash he was out the door too. We could hear Ana giggling as Tex joined her.

_Exasperation. Desperation._ Rebecca.

"What do I do with that girl," Rebecca said quietly as she sat back down in her chair and ran a hand through her hair.

"What do you mean?" Esme asked.

She sighed as she looked at Esme. "She has practically no sense of self-preservation, as you can see ma'am. She's completely dependent on Tex and me to take care of her. She was twelve when she was turned, but she seems so much younger. That's partly due to her size and partly due to her mentality. I didn't know her before she was changed, but from what her brother said about her, she was always a little slow."

"Is Tex her brother?" Rosalie asked. Her feelings were particularly soft towards the small girl.

"No, her brother's dead. Tex was his best friend."

"Why was she changed at all?" Esme asked, echoing the question I'd been asking since I met these newborns the day before.

"It wasn't exactly intentional. Her brother, Victor, was the one Maria wanted. He was seventeen when they were changed. Again, my information is all second hand, but apparently he and Ana were in the care of Texas child welfare. I don't know what happened to them in those foster homes, but it was bad enough that Victor took his sister and left. None of us particularly like to be touched, but Ana likes to be touched less than most. I think it has something to do with that."

"Anyway, Maria was building up our forces a few months ago, and she had her eye on several members of a gang in San Antonio, including Victor. She followed him back to the tenement he lived in and bit him. Ana came out of hiding when she heard her brother screaming. I suppose Maria could have just killed her, but she told me later that she had some vague idea of creating a scout that no one would ever suspect. I don't know if that was her real reason or not. All I know for sure is that she delivered Victor and Ana to me, still burning, a day later."

"What happened to Victor?" Rose asked.

Rebecca shrugged. "He turned out not to be as good a fighter as we had hoped."

Rose and Esme shuddered. I didn't miss Rebecca's casual use of the word "we." So Rebecca had been Maria's second-in-command and had control over the newborns. I found my dislike of this girl growing steadily stronger.

Rebecca went on. "In the couple of months he lived, Victor and Tex got to be friends. When Victor didn't come back, Ana started following Tex around. I don't know why he let her do it. I certainly would have ripped her head off if she had started following me, but I guess Tex had a couple of sisters himself."

"Poor child," Esme said quietly, as she laid her hand over her heart.

"I don't know about that, ma'am." She grinned darkly. "It seems to me that being changed may have been the best thing that ever happened to her. And if I don't kill her, and if she manages not to have anyone else kill her, she may be alright."

Her face turned serious. "But, as I said, I really don't know what to do with her. Do I teach her to fight, knowing that she'll be outmatched in every fight she ever gets herself into? Or do I teach her to run, scare her so badly that she _never_ fights, but instead is afraid of everyone and everything? She's so trusting, _so sweet._" She grimaced. "It seems a sin to kill that."

"Perhaps there's another option," Carlisle offered.

"If there is, I've never seen it." Rebecca challenged.

"You're still very young." Carlisle said kindly.

Rebecca growled. _Careful Carlisle_, I thought, _she's not used to being challenged._

Edward winced slightly. His face stayed calm, but he was struck with horror and disgust. Whatever the girl was thinking, it must not have been a pretty picture. Edward looked at me and nodded sharply before turning to the girl.

"It's not all violence and pain, Bec," he said quietly. She didn't seem to notice the use of her coven's nickname for her as she considered that. Edward went on, "You can have a life in the north where you don't have to fight all the time. A life that isn't all about _survival_ and _blood_."

We can survive without blood?" Rebecca cried, clearly shocked.

_Remorse. Self-loathing._ Rebecca's emotions surprised me; I had no explanation for them.

Edward chuckled, "Without human blood, yes. Without blood, no."

"I don't understand."

Carlisle continued. "My family exists on the blood of animals. We don't take human life."

_Disbelief. _Rebecca looked skeptical. She cocked her head to the side.

"Do many vampires in the north do that?"

"Some do, but most live the way you're accustomed to living. They travel in small groups and hunt in a way that doesn't draw attention."

"Why then?"

"It's a good question. As a matter of convenience, it allows us to remain in one place for several years, to have a home. Also it allows a greater number of us to live in one place, together."

Carlisle stood, but Rebecca didn't look concerned. He had the air of a professor. Or a preacher. "More importantly though, it's a part of who we are as a family. We don't want to harm people. Simply becoming vampires didn't give us that right. Suppressing our desire to drink human blood helps us find peace in the world."

_Shock. Desire._ Again, Rebecca's emotions confused me.

She turned towards me, her crimson eyes boring into me.

"Will you teach us how to do this?" she asked. Her question was clearly directed at me. I was unexpectedly angry; of all the people in the room she could ask for help, she had to ask me.

"If you want a role model," I snapped, "look at Carlisle. Or Edward. Or any of the others. But not me."

_Distrust. _Now her emotions made perfect sense. I didn't trust her either. She gave a low growl. Everyone in the family was looking at us now.

Suddenly, Ana appeared at the front door and peeked in.

"Bec?" she called quietly.

"Yes?"

"I'm thirsty," she moaned.

Rebecca continued to look me squarely in the eye. She squinted as if she was trying to work something out. Then she passed her eyes over each member of the family in turn before finally settling on Carlisle. He looked at her with calm, clear eyes.

Rebecca stood up without breaking Carlisle's gaze.

"Okay … go get Tex and come with me... We're going to try something _new_."

**Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Calliope**


	5. Afraid

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Afraid

Rebecca

"It's bigger than me," Ana said unhappily as we watched the elk lap water from a small stream. The animal had wandered away from its herd, but we could hear the others a mile or so away.

"Yes, it is." I said flatly. I looked down at her. "But it's bigger than me too. In fact, I think it's bigger than all of us, except maybe Mr. Emmett."

She grinned, and we both looked back at Emmett and Tex. Emmett was enthusiastically explaining how to take the animal around the neck and pin it to the ground. Tex looked very, very unhappy.

He glared at me as Emmett continued his explanation. I smiled at him and shrugged. He growled.

Carlisle, Edward, and Jasper stood thirty feet in the woods behind Tex and Emmett. Carlisle and Edward were speaking quietly to each other; well, I could hear Edward speaking but not Carlisle. Something was definitely going on there, but I hadn't had time to work it out yet.

And Jasper was _staring_ at me.

Actually, it was pissing me the Hell off.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess, because you just might get it. Jasper Whitlock, _the legend_, turned out to be a total jerk.

He'd barely spoken to us in the house, and while everyone else in his coven (uh, family?) had been pleasant, or even friendly, he'd been nothing but cold. Even _before_ Ana had stupidly bitten his coven-mate, he was unfriendly. And since then he had watched my every move and every breath, never taking his eyes off me for a split-second.

What was his major malfunction? He may have commanded Maria's forces once, but he didn't anymore. He wasn't even in charge of his own coven. But, somehow, he still thought he could scare me.

And he was right. I was afraid of him. But I was never, _ever_, going to let him know that.

With effort, I turned my attention back to the elk. I tried to do as Carlisle and Edward had explained. I let my eyes close and listened to the heavy, wet heartbeat. I thought of the blood, silky and warm, running though the animals veins. I tried to let the venom flow and my instincts kick in.

_Wrong! Everything about it was wrong!_

I opened my eyes again and stared at the animal as if it had personally offended me.

"What are you doing?" Ana whispered.

"I'm trying to make myself _want_ it." I responded dryly.

"Is it working?"

"No."

Edward had flanked us and was approaching from the side. I looked at him and forced a smile. He came closer.

"That was a good try. You just have to let yourself _hunt_."

I shook my head. This was hopeless; I'd rather lick the dirt than drain that animal. "Maybe I'm just not thirsty enough," I said, eager to end this farce.

Edward looked back and caught Jasper's eye. Something passed between them, but I didn't have time to worry about it.

I was suddenly, and unexpectedly, _ravenous_. My throat burned as if I'd swallowed molten lead. And the elk didn't seem quite so offensive. In fact, I wanted it – _I had to have it_.

_Mine!_

I heard growling and some small part of my brain realized it was me. But I was rapidly losing the capacity for rational thought. Ana backed away from me, but Edward stayed close.

"That's it," he encouraged. "It's yours; go get it."

_Thirst. Stealth. Approach. Attack! Chase! Capture! Tearing. Biting. Drinking…._

The animal was half-drained before I came back to my senses. I nearly gagged. It was worse than drinking mud. But I kept drinking. If this was the price of peace, I was bound and determined to try.

I stood, still snarling with teeth still bared, and fought for composure. I was covered in dirt and my right arm was covered in blood. When I was confident my face was calm, I brushed myself off and turned back to the group.

Ana was whiter than usual. She was leaning into Tex's side. He looked truly disgusted. I gestured for them to come to me.

"So how was it?" Tex asked.

"It was … not as bad as I expected," I lied. I was determined that both of them would give this a try. They could draw their own conclusions.

Tex raised an eyebrow and looked at me skeptically.

"The chase was fun," I hurried to add.

"Are you going to do it again?" Ana asked.

"Yes." I said confidently, although I wasn't entirely sure that I was. "But both of you are going to eat something before I do." And it was time to get them moving.

"Go on, Tex," I encouraged. He didn't move. "I know you're hungry. It's been a week since we last ate. It's not the best meal you'll ever have, but it will fill you up."

Still he didn't move.

"Are you afraid?"

He glared at me.

"You're not a _coward_ are you?"

Tex snarled and took a snap at me. I slapped his face hard. "You _are_ a coward? You're too frightened to do what I did; to take down _an animal_."

He lunged at me, and I easily side-stepped him. He really was so easy to wind up.

I laughed. "I'm _laughing_ at you, Tex! Boy, Texas just doesn't raise 'em like she used to. Do you want me to go and get the animal _for you_?"

He lunged for me again. He got his hands on my arm, but I threw him off balance and slammed him into the dirt.

"Or are you man enough to go _hunt_."

With a roar, he disappeared into the trees. Ana still stood beside me, staring after him into the woods. I'd take a different tack with her.

I knelt down beside her so our eyes were level. "Are you hungry, Ana?" I said softly.

She nodded. Her bright eyes darkened to burgundy.

"There's food just on the other side of these trees, waiting for you to go get it. It's yours. You'll have so much fun chasing the animal down, and then you'll drink."

She started to tremble.

"You're so cold, aren't you? But the blood will warm you up from the inside, and you'll feel better."

That did it for her. She blurred into the woods and I ghosted behind her, watching her effortlessly leap over rocks and fallen trees as the scent drew her forward. I could hear that somewhere behind us, the Cullens started to follow. I stopped to wait for them.

As they approached, however, I heard a keening wail from the woods ahead of me. I put on a burst of speed and flew into the clearing with the Cullens on my heels.

Ana sat next to the drained carcass of an elk, retching and sobbing. Tex sat beside her, looking almost green, rubbing his hands together. Another dead animal lay 20 feet away.

This was bad. I approached them slowly, purring softly, intending to offer praise and comfort.

In an explosion of speed and fury, Tex leapt at me and drove me backwards into a large boulder. His hands wrapped around my neck and I clutched at his fingers. I was lifted off the ground as he screamed into my face.

"That _had_ to be the most disgusting thing you've ever tasted! But you sent us after it anyway. You've really gone insane! I don't know what you think this is going to accomplish! I don't know what you want here! But I'm not going to play along with this sick game anymore!"

I was enraged. I brought my knee up hard into his stomach and raked my nails across his face.

He dropped me with a hiss and I sprang at him, furious. In the trees behind us, I saw Carlisle start to move forward, before Edward grabbed his arm. He looked at Jasper, who shook his head.

"No, let them resolve this."

I dodged Tex's fists as I approached. He tried to wrap his arms around me, but I spun and grabbed his arm on a badly thrown punch. With a snarl, I dragged him forward and threw him to the ground.

He was on his feet a second later, charging into me with a roar. The force of his blow sent us both tumbling down a small embankment and into the icy stream.

I was on my feet again first and lunged at him, catching him by the leg and yanking him backwards. His head slammed into the rocks of the creek bed with a horrific crack. I threw him onto the grassy slope and charged.

He rolled out of the way as I slammed into the embankment myself. I could vaguely hear Ana's desperate cries as she begged us to stop. But we were _way_ past that now; this fight had been a _long _time coming.

Suddenly, Tex was above me. His right fist slammed into my chest and then his left into my face. Although I was in pain, I forced myself to grab his right fist as it came down again and threw him off balance. I flipped out of the way. Now I had the high ground on him. But instead of a direct attack, I shoved him to the side and sprang at him as he rolled. I grabbed his arm and pinned it behind his back with my knee, nearly taking it clean off in the process. I used my hands to catch his other arm and pinned it behind his back as well.

He screamed in pain. I slammed his face into the dirt. He tried to throw me off, but I had him mastered now.

"That's enough!" I roared. "Enough!" I grazed my teeth against his neck, and he stopped thrashing.

"Did you see what your ridiculous idea did to Ana? Did you see it?"

I looked up the bank. Ana stood trembling between Edward and Emmett; she was leaning into Edward's side, and he had put a hand on her shoulder.

"Ana's fine." I snarled.

"Did you see her before, coughing up the blood? It's not natural, Bec!"

"_We're_ not natural, Tex. Nothin' about us is natural."

"I'm not going to stay here and watch you do this!"

"Fine; go then." I snapped as I released him and kicked him a few feet away from me.

He was on his feet in a flash, looking at me in disbelief. "You're going to just let us go?"

"Not 'us.' Just you. You can get the Hell out of here. But Ana's staying."

"What? Why? You don't care anything about her!" he shouted.

I snarled. "No, I don't care _anything_ about her. But she _belongs_ to me. And you're not strong enough to take her. Trust me, she and I will have all kinds of _fun_ when you're gone."

Tex roared, but he had sense enough not to charge. He slumped down in the grass defeated. Ana slipped down the bank and crouched next to him. She bumped her head into his shoulder and purred. He looked at her … and smiled … and started to purr back.

_Thank God; disaster averted._

I was devastated by the lies, but I would do whatever I needed to do – say whatever I had to say – to keep them safe. And right now, staying safe meant staying together. We wouldn't need to hunt again for a few days. We'd cross that bridge when we came to it.

I slumped down to the ground where I stood. As much as I wanted to sit beside them and purr with them until we all felt better, I knew I couldn't. We sat there for a full minute before I knew I had to assert myself as leader again.

"Both of you go back to the Cullens' house. Wait for me there. Now!"

Ana took Tex's hand and scampered up the bank without looking back at me.

I watched them go. With a groan, I stood, rubbing my cheek where Tex's fist had landed. It hurt, but I knew it wouldn't hurt for long. I stretched my back and heard it crack – broken ribs, I guess. Tex probably had a couple broken ribs of his own.

I turned and made my way back up the bank. The Cullens still stood there, not saying a word. As I passed, I raised my head and looked straight into Jasper's face. He betrayed absolutely no emotion.

"He was right, of course. It _was_ the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted."

ooooo

All I wanted to do was get back to Tex and Ana. But I also knew that a little time between the fight and our reunion would do everyone some good. So I took off into the woods at a flat run, hoping that the Cullens – that Jasper – would simply leave me alone. I hadn't gone far before Edward caught up to me. _Damn_, he was fast.

"Go for a run if you want, but don't go west to the coast, alright? Stay to the east of our house and you'll be safe. There will be serious trouble if you go to the beach. And stay out of Forks – the little town to the southeast. We don't want anyone to see you."

I didn't appreciate being given orders. Who did this guy think he was? But I remembered the strange scent on the beach and decided that Edward might just be giving me good advice.

I nodded. He gave me a crooked smiled and fell back. I was alone again.

The beach had caught my interest. First the smell that made us all nervous and now Edward's strange warning. But I had enough riddles to solve; I'd work on that one later when I had more facts.

After running for a while, I sprang into the branches of an enormous fir tree, and climbed until I was perched in the top most branches. Wisps of fog surrounded me. This place was so strange – so wet. I missed the dry baking heat of San Antonio. But I wasn't likely to be headed back there anytime soon.

I turned my attention to a more pressing question.

What was up with Edward and his one-sided conversations? I'd seen him speaking _to_ Carlisle, and _to _Jasper, and _to_ Emmett, but I'd almost never seen them speaking back. It was one of the strangest things I'd ever seen.

I thought back over all the observations I'd filed away for later consideration. In the house, when Carlisle suggested that there was a life for Ana besides constant fighting or constant fear, Edward had said, "It's not all violence and pain." But how on earth had he known that I was thinking about _exactly those things_?

And just before the hunt, when my instincts were starting to take over, he'd said, "_That's it. _It's yours; go get it." But how had he known?

And just now; I hadn't specifically told anyone that I was going for a run, but he still chased me down to give me instructions on where I should and shouldn't go.

And although it was more difficult to put my finger on, I'd had the strangest feeling all day – almost as if he was watching us, even when his back was turned….

_Holy crap …_ could this guy read minds?

I recalled Zafrina's words from months before. She said, "I was with an _entire coven_ of gifted vampires." And she had specifically mentioned that some vampires could read minds, hadn't she? Oh dear _God_. Could Edward possibly have heard every thought I'd had since I came into his house?

I started to hyperventilate. Which actually did nothing. I forced myself to stop.

Okay, no need to panic. If he _had_ heard everything in my head – and Ana's head and Tex's head too – it hadn't caused him to send us away. In fact, he'd been quite nice to us. So for the time being, I would keep this ability of his in mind, but I wouldn't alter my behavior because of it.

I briefly made a mental inventory of the Cullens:

Jasper – emotional manipulator;

Alice – psychic;

Edward – possible mind-reader.

That left Emmett and Rosalie, Carlisle and Esme, and two others as unknowns. I would keep my eyes open.

What a family.

ooooo

_I heard children laughing as I ran back towards the Cullen house._

One of them, I realized, was Ana.

I burst into the clearing where the Cullen's house sat … and stopped dead.

Even as I growled, I thought to myself, _don't overreact_. Don't do anything stupid until you know what the Hell is going on here.

Three female vampires sat in the grass under a large tree watching Ana and another child playing on the tire swing. Although I recognized two of the adults as Esme and Rosalie, I didn't recognize the third woman. She turned and looked at me with a slightly worried look in her rose-red eyes.

The child on the swing with Ana was the oddest thing I'd ever seen. She was perhaps five or six years old with vampire-pale skin and bronze-colored curls framing her pretty face. But she was flushed pink from playing in the sun with Ana. And her eyes were _brown_.

Just then, the wind changed and blew the scents of the group towards me.

And instinctively I dropped into a crouch and snarled. Everyone turned towards me now. The strange smell, the smell from the beach, was everywhere. It was mixed with a light, sweet smell. Not human, exactly, but not vampire either.

And I realized that I could hear heartbeats – two of them to be exact.

I was totally unnerved. God knows, if I didn't care about Ana and Tex, I would have run away screaming about now.

Ana trotted over to me as Tex and Emmett came out of the house and started walking towards me. The odd little girl went to stand beside the woman I didn't know and put her little hand on the woman's neck. It was impossible to miss the resemblance between them. And, I realized with a start, the resemblance between the little girl and Edward.

"Look, Bec, I made a friend!" Ana said delightedly. "Don't freak out, but Mr. Edward and Mr. Jasper are behind you."

I spun around wide-eyed. I was so unsettled that I hadn't heard them approach. I cocked my head.

_Hey, can you hear me? _I thought intently. _This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. What the Hell is going on here?_

Edward actually laughed. "Yes, I can hear you. And we'll explain everything." He smiled that crooked smile of his. "We've explained to Tex and Ana already. So, that concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System."

In spite of myself, I grinned a little bit.

"O.k. Start explaining."

Edward called to the woman, "Bella, please bring Renesmee."

The woman – Bella – took the child – Renesmee – by the hand and they walked towards us at human speed.

_Trying not to startle me? _I asked.

"Something like that." Edward responded.

"Oh no, not you too." Emmett groaned as he and Tex approached. "Listen, we – and by we, I really mean _I_ – have strict rules about conversations with Edward that no one else can hear." He grinned. "Just wait until you see Edward and Alice go at it sometime; then you'll see where the rule came from."

Tex came to stand beside me. Ana ran to take Renesmee's free hand as she and … her _mother_, I guess ... came towards me.

I started to feel unsettled. I'd lost control of my position and everyone was moving around too much. Jasper and Edward were behind my back. Emmett, Bella, and the odd child (who was touching Ana) were in front of me. Tex and I were completely exposed – completely surrounded. Two more vampires sat in the shade by the river, and presumably Alice and Carlisle were around here somewhere unseen as well. I swallowed a mouthful of venom.

_Don't overreact. Nothing is wrong. Just keep it together._

Out of the shade beyond the river came an enormous red-brown wolf.

_Danger!_

I completely lost control. Snarls ripped from my throat as I flipped myself behind Jasper and Edward. My hands curled into claws. I backed away from the group, snapping and growling. Everyone froze. I stared at Ana and Tex, willing them to come away.

"Ana," Tex called quietly. She let go of the little girl's hand and went to stand beside him. Together, they began walking towards me, purring softly.

I was in no mood for that. I growled to them and gestured for them to come to me.

"Bec, it really is o.k. The dog's name is Jacob." Tex said soothingly.

_No! Come away, come away, come away!_ I shook my head fiercely. Tex was right; this place was insane. We should never have come here. And as soon as my coven was beside me, I could grab them, and we would run. _Why wouldn't they move more quickly! Panicking!_

Ana reached for my hand and, without thinking, I snapped at her. She whimpered and backed up against Tex.

"Bec, you have to trust us," he said. "It really is o.k." They both purred as Tex reached out for my hand. The series of snaps and snarls drove both of them back.

And then I felt calm – so calm. There was a hand on my neck, but I didn't mind. In fact, I couldn't have cared less. I turned my head to see Jasper standing there. He must have slipped behind me when my attention was diverted.

"Rebecca," he said calmly, with a half-smile. "There's nothing to be afraid of here."

**AN: Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed or PM'd. It really means the world to me to hear what you think! - Calliope **


	6. Role Models

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Role Models

Jasper

Carlisle thought it was a good sign that the newborns were willing to try to hunt as we did. There was absolutely no apprehensiveness in him as he led the trio into the woods.

This entire situation was impossible. But once Rebecca turned her crimson eyes in Carlisle's direction and agreed to give his way of life a try, all Carlisle could see was the possibility of creating three more "vegetarian" vampires – as if that was something that a vampire could just take up like a new hobby.

He was being dangerously naïve. These weren't abandoned puppies he could rescue or lost souls he could save. These were Southern newborns, trained killers of both humans and vampires, fresh from Maria's army with the blood of their last human victims still running in their veins. Clearly Carlisle's compassion for these strangers and his compulsion to save human life had blinded him to the reality of who these vampires actually were.

I hoped the scene we were now watching would bring him back to his senses.

Tex's unexpected, vicious attack on Rebecca couldn't have fit with Carlisle's delusion that these vampires could adopt a peaceful way of life.

I tensed as Tex's palpable fury scorched through me. He slammed into Rebecca, driving them both down the creek bank and into the water.

Ana flashed to the top of the bank and looked down at them. For a vampire who was afraid of … well, everything really, she was less upset than I would have expected.

"She's seen a lot of this from them in the last three months," Edward said quietly as he released his hold on Carlisle's arm. Carlisle looked at Edward with surprise. Good; maybe he would _finally_ understand.

Carlisle had wanted to intervene as soon as the fight broke out, but I knew it was safer to let Rebecca and Tex resolve this themselves. I had no doubt of the outcome: Rebecca would put Tex back in his place.

In contrast to Tex's blind fury, Rebecca controlled her emotions as she fought. Although she was frustrated that the situation had deteriorated to this point, she wasn't angry. In fact, the flash of rage she had first felt when Tex attacked her quickly cooled to a methodical calmness.

I nearly smiled in spite of myself - the difference between a newborn under a year old and one with a few years experience was so obvious. I had almost forgotten.

It was this distinction that made Rebecca far more dangerous than Tex, even with his newborn strength still intact. And it was why I hadn't taken my eyes off her since the trio came into our front yard this morning. Although she hid it well, she was scared of me, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Suddenly we heard was a loud crack; Carlisle, Edward, Emmett, and I exchanged surprised glances before dashing to the top of the bank beside Ana. Tex was on his back in the water. The shattered stones around him bore witness to the force of his impact. Tex looked dazed as Rebecca lifted him out of the water by his throat and threw him on to the grassy bank. However, he recovered himself enough to roll away from Rebecca's charge.

"Stop it! Please stop it!" Ana cried out. Edward moved a little closer to her. She turned to him with a look of despair. "I hate it when they fight."

_Pity. _Edward.

Edward slowly reached out, making sure Ana understood his intentions, and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and sighed sadly. Edward's emotions were gentle, as if it were Renesmee and not an unstable newborn he was comforting. _Edward, don't get complacent_, I thought. He rolled his eyes, but nodded.

I turned back to the fight without much interest. I'd seen thousands of these squabbles over the years. Several of Tex's blows landed before Rebecca was able to grab his fist and shove him away from her. She resisted the urge to attack him directly and instead knocked him off balance. _Well done_. She'd obviously fought newborns like Tex many times before.

Tex screamed as Rebecca pinned him to the ground with his arms behind his back.

"That's enough! Enough!" Rebecca yelled, but Tex continued to resist.

_She's going to have to bite him_, I thought for Edward's benefit. _Don't panic, and keep Emmett from overreacting. I'll keep Carlisle back._

Edward shook his head. "She's not going to bite him. Watch."

I watched as Rebecca merely grazed her teeth against Tex's neck without breaking the skin – a warning. A few seconds later, Tex had quieted and lay still beneath her.

I was surprised, both that Tex would surrender without pain and that Rebecca could control her instinctive desire to punish.

Tex's anger was replaced by distress. "Did you see what your ridiculous idea did to Ana? Did you see it?"

Rebecca looked up at us. Her eyes met mine briefly, but I didn't feel the flash of fear she usually felt when she looked at me. Her single-minded determination to subdue Tex had pushed all other emotions away.

"Ana's fine," she snarled.

"Did you see her _before_, coughing up the blood? It's not natural, Bec!"

"We're not natural, Tex. Nothin' about us is natural."

They were both right. The desperation in Tex's voice increased. "I'm not going to stay here and watch you do this!"

"Fine; go then." She released the startled young vampire and kicked him away from her without much force.

Deception. Panic. Rebecca.

What game was she playing here? She clearly had no intention of letting Tex or Ana go. And although her expression never changed, the thought of her coven splitting brought her close to hysteria. Undoubtedly she would leave with them, if it actually came to that.

"You're going to just let us go?"

"Not 'us.' Just you. You can get the Hell out of here. But Ana's staying."

Ah. Clever girl.

"What? Why? You don't care anything about her!"

She snarled viciously. Let no one doubt she was in charge. Tex's rage had returned, although he was somewhat chastened by his recent defeat. And Ana was … _skeptical?_ Was it possible that she didn't believe Tex's claim that Rebecca didn't care for her? That she knew posturing when she saw it. Edward looked at me over her head and nodded.

"No, I _don't_ care _anything_ about her. But she _belongs_ to me. And you're not strong enough to take her. Trust me, she and I will have all kinds of _fun_ when you're gone."

Rebecca's lie caused her actual, physical pain, but her face betrayed nothing.

Tex roared with fury, but amazingly, Ana's emotions didn't change. She slipped out from under Edward's arm and went to crouch next to Tex. They both began to purr softly. Rebecca slumped to the ground where she stood.

I realized with dismay that I had misjudged these newborns once again. I'd assumed they were together for only convenience, but I'd missed the deeper ties that bound them together. How many times would they show me how dull my wits had become?

"Both of you go back to the Cullens' house. Wait for me there. Now!" Rebecca barked. na and Tex took off at a dead sprint in the direction of our house.

Rebecca waited until the sound of their footfalls disappeared before standing up with a groan. She absently rubbed her cheek and stretched before trudging back up the embankment to where we stood. She was soaked to the skin, and covered in dirt and gore. Although I could feel her longing, probably to go after Tex and Ana, she didn't follow them. Instead, she stopped in front of me and gave me a look of challenge. I drew myself up to my full height, but kept my expression carefully blank.

"He was right, of course. It _was_ the most disgusting thing I've ever tasted." She disappeared into the woods in the opposite direction of the house.

"I know," I whispered to myself, too quietly for Emmett or Carlisle to hear.

Edward didn't mention to my comment. Instead, he said he would catch up to Rebecca and warn her to stay out of Forks and away from La Push. He disappeared into the trees after Rebecca. Carlisle, Emmett, and I turned for home.

ooooo

I burst out of the woods surrounding our house first and was unsurprised to see Alice standing alone in the middle of the yard. She was staring directly at me and smiling; waiting for me, as usual.

I stopped in front of her and ducked my head. She put her tiny arms around my waist and looked up at me. I let her love resonate through me, and I sent the same love to her in return. She smiled happily before putting both her hands against my chest.

"Before you ask, the newborns have gone back down to the river. Ana's crazy about the swing you and Emmett built for Nes. Bella and Nes are on their way home, but Edward will be back before they get here and can handle the introductions. Oh, and Carlisle wants to see you in the house, and you really should talk to him."

She grinned as I digested the influx of information. Then she giggled as I frowned. "Really, Jasper, don't look so upset. Everything is going to be o.k. now. You should go talk to Carlisle in the house."

I shook my head. "If the newborns are going to meet Nes, I should be there with them."

Her eyes glazed over, but she came back with a half-smile. "The meeting will go better if you're not there." She laughed as she stroked my face. "You make Tex nervous."

"Good."

"Jasper!" she snapped, as she playfully swatted my arm. "Nes is about to make her first real friend. If you're there, you'll just mess it up."

Carlisle and Emmett emerged from the woods behind me. Emmett turned towards the river as Carlisle approached Alice and me.

"Jasper, would you come into the house with me please? I'd like to talk with you for a moment." Without waiting for an answer, he turned and headed for the house, giving Alice and me a moment. I looked at Alice who gave me an encouraging smile.

"Jazz, trust me. If you stay outside, there will be a problem. Just go in the house with Carlisle. After all, Emmett, Rose, and Esme will be out here with Edward too."

I didn't like this, but I _did_ trust Alice. If she said the meeting with Bella and Nes would go better without me, I would stay away. Actually, often it _was_ better not to dilute your authority with newborns through too frequent contact, and the newborns had already seen a great deal of me today. I reached for Alice's hand, intending to lead her into the house, but she pulled her hand back.

I cocked my head. "Where are you going?"

"Shopping."

"_Shopping_? You're going shopping _now_, darlin'? Can't you wait until the newborns are gone?"

"Actually, I'm going shopping for _them_," she said sheepishly. She cut me off before I could protest. "They're filthy after the hunt, and they shouldn't have to hang around dressed in rags. Rebecca is about the same size as Bella and Ana can wear something of mine, but Tex is shorter than Carlisle or Edward and broader that anyone except Emmett. I'll have to scrounge around to find something to fit him, and I don't like to scrounge. Besides," she bit her lip, "I don't think they're going anywhere anytime soon."

I gave a low growl. Carlisle stopped in the door to the house and looked back at us. Alice shrugged before standing up on tiptoes, and I leaned down to kiss her softly.

"I'll be home soon. I promise."

"I love you too."

She gave me her soft doe-eyes as she turned and walked towards the garage. I nodded at Carlisle and he went into the house.

No, I didn't like any of this at all.

ooooo

I was on edge as I followed Carlisle's scent up to his office. I strained both my ears and my abilities as I listened to what was going on outside. I wanted nothing more than to be in the yard when Tex and Ana were introduced to Bella and, most significantly, Nes.

I silently stopped outside Carlisle's open door, crossing my arms and waiting to be asked in. I wasn't sure what Carlisle wanted to talk about - Alice had unhelpfully provided no hints - but I hoped he wanted to discuss a strategy for asking the newborns to leave without provoking a confrontation. At the very least, maybe he wanted to discuss maintaining a watch over them while they stayed in our territory.

"Come in please Jasper, and shut the door behind you." I did as I was asked, although shutting the door was hardly necessarily. After centuries of practice, Carlisle maintained the human facade better than anyone else, to the point where it had become his habit even when he was at home. It was a good reminder.

Carlisle was sitting down at his desk. He folded his hands and was quiet for a moment before he looked up at me where I stood on the other side of his desk.

"Jasper … I think you should give these children a chance; make an effort to be friendly."

I groaned as I slumped in a chair and ran my hand through my hair.

_It was worse than I thought._

I looked up at him and shook my head. "You _really_ don't understand, Carlisle."

His face was serene as always. "I'd like to understand. Won't you tell me what you're thinking?"

"We don't have any idea what they want here!"

"As far as I can tell, Jasper, they don't want _anything_, except some information. Surely we're all entitled to know the rules of this life. They don't seem hostile."

I stood abruptly and began to pace. How did I get through to him; how did I make him understand? I dragged my hand though my hair again before I remembered Alice's frequent admonitions – _you won't have any hair left if you keep that up._

Thinking of Alice always helped me focus my thoughts. I turned back towards Carlisle, hoping I could calmly make my case. I clasped my hands behind my back.

"With newborns, it's always a battle for control, for dominance. They can turn on you in a flash. You've _seen_ them attack each other. How can you think they're not hostile when one of them bit Esme?"

"I'm convinced that was an accident."

"That's Esme's opinion, but it's not mine. My opinion is that something like that was bound to happen. It could be worse next time. And there will be a next time, Carlisle. They don't know how to control their instincts."

"We can't fault them for not having been trained."

I chuckled darkly. "Oh, they've been trained, Carlisle, just not in a way you would approve of. Ana didn't get those scars on her neck and arms in a farming accident."

"I know that," he said quietly. Carlisle looked down at his hands before continuing. "But Rebecca seems willing to learn another way. And the others seem willing to follow her lead."

"Rebecca is the most dangerous of the three! She's accustomed to being in command. She won't give up her authority without a fight. Her thoughts and feelings are entirely focused on maintaining dominance."

"You may know what she's feeling Jasper, but neither of us can know what she's thinking."

I finally exploded. "Of course I know what she's thinking Carlisle! She's thinking exactly what I was thinking when I was in charge of Maria's army!"

Silence. That statement was pretty much a conversation killer.

I sank down on Carlisle's couch and dropped my head into my hands. I felt Carlisle sit beside me, but, thankfully, he didn't touch me.

_Compassion_. Of course.

"You're not that man anymore."

"I know."

Silence.

"You think Rebecca is just like you were?"

"I know she is."

I sat up straight and met Carlisle's concerned gaze. This _really_ wasn't about me or about how these undead reminders of my past made me feel. I had to steer this conversation back to the topic at hand – keeping the family safe.

I took a different, more uncomfortable tact. "Carlisle, they have no reason to adopt your … _our_ way of life. Without that, and having come straight from the South, they'll find it impossible to live like we do."

"You did it."

I shook my head sadly. Once again, Carlisle gave me far too much credit. "No, I didn't."

He silently waited for me to continue. I sighed. Although I despised admitting how weak I had been - how weak I still was - maybe it would do some good.

"When I came North with Peter and Charlotte, I wasn't anywhere close to ready to live like this." I gestured vaguely at the room. "I was nothing more than a monster. I just thank whatever spirit watches over creatures like us that Alice didn't find me then. It wasn't until I left that life behind and traveled for a while with Peter and Charlotte that I began to change."

I shuddered. Even Alice couldn't have reached me during that dark time. I hadn't been ready for her. I hadn't been ready for any of this then.

"Why Peter cared about me at all, I'll never understand. The only positive qualities I had back then were loyalty to my companions and guilt – if guilt can be seen as a positive thing. I tried to kill less often, but even then this _ability_ of mine was a constant torment. Only when Alice found me did things actually start getting better."

Ah, Alice; I couldn't help the softness in my voice when I said her name. Carlisle noticed and gave me a slight smile. I pressed on.

"But, even with Alice, things got worse before they got better – much worse. The blood is a drug, Carlisle, and we're all born exposed and dependent. You've helped everyone you created deal with that addiction from the first moments of their new lives. But imagine how strong that addiction would be if you'd encouraged them not to repress their cravings, but to satisfy them."

Carlisle nodded soberly. "Edward has told me how much harder it was to abstain once he, for lack of a better phrase, _knew what he was missing_."

"Exactly. And that's what it's like for us. You know I still struggle; I don't have everything figured out yet. I may never have the kind of control the rest of you have."

I could see him preparing to interrupt, to tell me once again that better control would come in time, but I was too realistic to believe that, and I didn't need to hear the platitudes again. I raised my hand and rushed on before he could begin.

"These newborns have satisfied their thirst, but not their _craving_. Fortunately, they don't know that yet. Right now, they still feel alright, but imagine what they'll be like when they've gone two weeks without the blood they crave, or three weeks, or four…."

I didn't have to imagine. I dropped my head. Just the memory of those days was enough to make me feel sick and shaky. Carlisle laid his hand on my shoulder, and for once, I appreciated the comforting contact.

"Jasper, I don't know if control will ever get easier for you. I hope it will, but I tend to think, after 60 years in this family, it may not. But you don't give yourself credit for how strong you've had to be to come this far. Certainly you've overcome more than the rest of us; I can't imagine what it must have been like those first weeks after turning your back on three quarters of a century of instant gratification!"

I smiled and composed myself as I gently pulled out from under his hand. "I had Alice with me. _She_ was my _reason_ to go through the pain, but they don't have a reason. And without a damn-good one, there's virtually no chance they'll put themselves though what's coming."

I knew I had nearly crushed Carlisle's hopes for these newborns, and I regretted that. But he had to understand. He smiled sadly at me, nodded and walked slowly back to his desk chair. I returned to the chair across from his desk. He was so disheartened that I had to say something more, even if it meant admitting something I had never said out loud before. I took a deep breath.

"Carlisle... you're a wonderful role model for someone like me... I see in you something I can aspire to, even if I can't ever achieve it." He smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "But I couldn't have followed your example right after I left Monterrey. I needed less _impressive _role models first. I couldn't have learned anything from someone who already had everything all figured out."

He laughed gently … as I realized what I had just said. My jaw dropped and my mind went into overdrive.

After a moment, Carlisle spoke softly. "Could you have forged a new path for yourself, Jasper, if you didn't have help? Peter and Charlotte, and then Alice..."

I shook my head slowly. I was too shaken to speak.

"Rebecca needs a role model. Someone to help her find her way. I don't think she'll make it without help. And Tex and Ana will suffer with her."

The problem was obvious: _I didn't deserve the help I had received, and yet, I had received the help I needed. So ... who would help these young ones as I was helped?_

Still Carlisle was the obvious choice...

Carlisle fixed me with an intense gaze as if he could read minds.

"She reached out to _you_, Jasper. Because she's just like you used to be."

ooooo

I left Carlisle's office without any real idea of how to fulfil my promise and help the newborns. My thoughts were soon diverted elsewhere though.

Tex and Emmett were shouting at each other downstairs. I quickly realized though that neither of them was actually upset. Emmett, as usual, was feeling playful. I stuck my head into the living room, where they were both sitting on the couch with their attention fixed on the flat screen.

"Kill it!" Emmett shouted. "Shoot it!" He grabbed for Tex's controller, but Tex growled and yanked it out of his reach.

"I'm shooting it, but it won't die!"

"That's because you're not actually hitting it! You're just wasting ammo! We're gonna lose!" Emmett howled. "Give me the controller! Just give me the controller!"

Emmett tried for Tex's controller again, but in a flash Tex had moved off the couch and was standing two feet in front of the flat-screen.

"Tex," Emmett squealed. "I don't think the problem is that you can't _see_ the screen!"

I smirked as I left them and hurried out the kitchen door. Emmett could handle himself, and despite Alice's assurances that the meeting with Renesmee and Bella would go well, I needed to see for myself. If anything happened to Nes or one of the others, I'd never forgive myself.

But I could hear laughter – Nes and Ana. And the emotions coming from down by the river were uniformly happy and relaxed. It was wonderful, actually.

Esme, Rose, and Bella sat under an oak tree watching Ana and Nes playing on the tire swing. Nes looked perfectly at ease as Ana pushed the swing out over the river and caught her as she swung back. Both girls giggled.

"Uncle Jasper!" Nes cried as she saw me approaching. She jumped off the swing, which Ana caught easily, and ran to embrace me. The others turned and smiled. Ana smiled and waived.

"Look Uncle Jasper, I have a friend," she said with awe. I didn't need my gift to feel the joy radiating from the little girl. I kissed the top of her head and she turned ran back to the swing and clambered on. I felt almost silly for worrying.

"Not silly Jasper. I was worried too when Ana and Tex met Bella and Renesmee." Edward was speaking quietly from the edge of the woods behind me, but it was loud enough. I turned to see him drop out of a tree where he'd been perched to watch. "But they've never heard of an immortal child, and Renesmee didn't make either of them thirsty. Ana thought she smelled nice, but we've all had that thought before."

I was by his side in the trees an instant later. We both watched as Nes did a back flip off the tire swing and landed lightly on her feet. Ana sprang on to the swing and Nes began to push her.

"They weren't even particularly surprised when we told them that she was half-human. They don't have any reason to know that's unusual." He chuckled. "They were much more surprised by Jacob actually."

"They met Jacob?"

"Yeah, he came back with Bella. He says he's not leaving Nes until the newborns leave, even if I make him sleep outside … which I plan to do, by the way, if he sticks to that plan. Anyway, Jacob came in his human form, and Tex nearly attacked him. Ana stopped him, but not before Jacob phased. Apparently they came across the wolves' scents on the beach yesterday, and it spooked them inland. But once they saw Renesmee and Jacob together, they understood he wasn't a threat. Hopefully, Rebecca will have the same reaction to both of them when she returns."

_I hope so too Edward, but I wouldn't count on it._

He nodded. "I know Jasper. She's not the same as them." He leaned back against a large boulder.

I turned to face him and looked him square in the eye.

"I'm glad someone besides me can see that." I sighed. Somehow it was easier not to say the next words out loud. _I'm not sure if they'll stay, but if they do, I'm going to do what I can to help them._

He smiled. "I'm glad Jazz."

_You obviously heard what Carlisle wanted to discuss with me?_

He nodded.

"And you agree with him?"

"About you being able to help them? Definitely. It would be impossible to miss the similarities..."

He trailed off. He was uncomfortable, obviously unsure how I would take whatever he was about to say.

"Similarities?"

He crammed his hands in his pocket and looked at me sideways. "Yeah, between the way Rebecca thinks and ... well, the way you used to think, and still think on occasion."

_Care to explain that?_

He shrugged. "Everyone's thoughts are framed a certain way. Just like speech patterns can be similar, two persons thought patterns can be similar. Rebecca's thought patterns remind me of yours when you and Alice first arrived.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean ... Her thoughts are jumpy - erratic. She's always looking for exits and defensive positions. She's always making lists. She keeps track of everyone's movements and where everyone is. You have to admit, you _still_ do that."

I did do that ... often.

"But more than that, it like underneath her conscious thoughts, there's a level of more primal thoughts. They're not expressed in words, but ... they're dangerous. She controls them, but still ..." He shrugged. And then, his posture changed as a wave of anxiety swept over him and then over me.

"She's back."

I reached out to calm my brother. _Let's go then._

We stepped out of the woods in time to see Rebecca catch sight of Nes and Ana and drop into a defensive crouch. She snarled as we approached her from behind. She was jumpy and unsettled; I didn't like the way this was beginning. Belatedly, I wondered if Alice had meant for me to stay inside during _this_ meeting as well. Too late to worry about that now.

Rebecca's snarls drew Tex and Emmett out of the house; they were already becoming friends from the looks of it. Ana left Nes on the tire swing and ran up to Rebecca. The older vampire didn't relax her stance.

"Look, Bec, I made a friend!" Ana exclaimed. She caught sight of Edward and me and wisely decided to tell Rebecca that we were approaching. "Don't freak out, but Mr. Edward and Mr. Jasper are behind you."

Rebecca whirled around to face us. Her discomfort blossomed into full-blown fear at the sight of us - at the sight of me most probably - but she hid it well, and it faded quickly.

She tipped her head and looked at Edward. He laughed out loud.

"Yes, I can hear you. And we'll explain everything."

So she had figured out that Edward could read minds. Clever girl - she had done that on remarkably few clues.

Edward continued. "We've explained to Tex and Ana already. So that concludes this test of the Emergency Broadcast System."

I grinned a little bit. If she was comfortable enough to make jokes, maybe this would be alright after all.

"O.k. Start explaining."

Edward's uncertainty buzzed around me. He didn't want to introduce Bella and Renesmee unless he was completely sure it was safe. And I couldn't give him that assurance.

_It's your decision, of course, Edward. I can't tell you that she's not dangerous, but I won't take my eyes off her._

Edward called to Bella to bring Renesmee. Nes took Bella's hand and they started towards us. I watched Rebecca's every move, every breath. Despite my promise to Carlisle that I would try to help her, I would take her down instantly if I thought she would harm Nes. The anxiety level of everyone present had increased dramatically, and it was difficult for me to separate my own anxious feelings from those surrounding me. And Rebecca was the most unsettled of all. I sent out a wave of calm, but it was like shouting into the howling wind.

"Something like that," Edward said out-of-the-blue. I could only hope that whatever he was saying, he was trying to keep Rebecca calm.

"Oh no, not you too." Emmett called out as he and Tex stopped beside Rebecca. "Listen, we – and by we, I really mean I – have strict rules about conversations with Edward that no one else can hear. Just wait until you see Edward and Alice go at it sometime; then you'll see where the rule came from."

I stifled a growl. I didn't appreciate Emmett mentioning Alice in connection with anything that might make Rebecca more upset.

Ana ran to take Renesmee's hand as she and Bella came toward us, and I grimaced. Given the protectiveness of the newborns towards each other, I would have preferred it if Ana wasn't touching Nes.

Rebecca's unease was growing again, slowly but steadily. Rebecca swallowed hard, and then swallowed again. I held off on calming her, knowing that any calm she could muster would be more permanent if she did it herself. If everyone just moved slowly and gave Rebecca time to adjust and react...

I felt a new anxiety join the din. _Jacob - damn him!_ He stepped out of the woods beyond the river in his wolf form, his eyes never leaving Nes.

And, at that, Rebecca's sanity was lost. Gone was her control and her emotions became pure animal instinct - fight or flight; kill or be killed. _Terror._

She snarled viciously and flipped herself over Edward and my heads. Now everyone was in front of her as she backed away. Her eyes called to Ana and Tex.

"Ana," Tex called, and the little vampire went to him. Their soft purrs were instantly drowned out in the sound of Rebecca's fierce growls. She held out her hand to them.

"Bec, it really is o.k. The dog's name is Jacob," Tex said softly.

Rebecca whipped her head from side to side. She was well and truly panicking now. Tex continued to try to reason with her, but I doubted her brain was even registering his words. I knew her emotions so well. I had felt them from hundreds of newborns; I had felt them myself dozens of times - _fear, frustration, anger, panic_...

In another life, I would have taken her down right now. I felt the venom rise in my mouth. She was a threat to me and my family and was beyond all sense or reason. I could even see myself doing it - every move I would make from the first attack to tearing her head from her neck. Undoubtedly, Tex and Ana would try to defend her, and I would end them too. I didn't owe them anything; I barely knew them. Edward and Emmett would likely step in as well, although I wouldn't need their help. All three newborns would be dead in less than a minute.

No.

I had given Carlisle my word. I needed another option. Rebecca's gaze was focused solely on Tex and Ana, so I slipped backwards towards the woods knowing her brain wouldn't register my retreat as a threat. She probably wouldn't even notice. I waited until I was under cover of trees before I broke into a dead sprint. I carved a wide arc so that my footsteps would be less noticeable as I flanked her. I came out of the woods again close to where Edward had kept watch on Nes and Ana from the trees. No one seemed to notice me.

Rebecca was snapping and snarling madly at Ana and nearly connected with the small vampire's hand. She whimpered and pulled back. I had a plan now but was concerned that if I tried to touch Rebecca, Tex and Ana would instantly attack me. I didn't think I could incapacitate all three of them. Someone would get hurt - I considered the possibility that, if I wouldn't fight them, it would be me.

And where was Carlisle while all of this was going on - surely he could hear the commotion from his office? I glanced up at the house in the distance, and was surprised at what I saw. There on the porch, with a shopping bag in each hand standing perfectly still and serene beside Carlisle, was Alice. She looked past the horror scene in front of me and straight into my eyes. And she nodded.

In a flash, I was beside Rebecca and laid my hand on the bare skin of her neck. I blasted her with calm. Tex and Ana, although uncertain what was happening, stayed back.

She quieted instantly. Slowly she turned and looked at me with a blank expression.

"Rebecca, there's nothing to be afraid of here."

And it was true. For the first time since they had arrived, I had no thoughts or intention of harming these children.

Rebecca dropped heavily to the ground, breathing only occasionally. I knelt beside her keeping my fingers on her skin. I felt the rest of my family silently withdraw. Only Ana and Tex remained with me now.

Ana kneeled beside me. "Is she alright?" she asked with frightened eyes.

"She's fine," I said with a nod.

Ana lowered her face to the same level as Rebecca's. She gazed at Rebecca until the incapacitated girl met her eyes. Then, she slowly pressed her cheek to Rebecca's. The calm flooding Rebecca was instantly transferred to her. Soon the small vampire was purring again, and nudging Rebecca's neck and shoulder with her head. Tex sat down beside them both and put one hand on each of them. I knew the danger was past. It was time to leave them alone together. They would have alot to talk about.

I took my hand off Rebecca's neck and slowly stood. All three of them were calm and purring gently, their heads inclined towards each other. I turned and walked back towards the now deserted porch. Alice was waiting for me in the doorway. She took my hands as I came through the door.

"That was amazing Jazz. I'm so proud of you." And it was true - she was terribly proud. She smiled up at me. I couldn't help smiling in return.

**AN: My sincere apologies for the delay in updating. I always put the completed chapters away for a little while after I finish them so that I can look at them again with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, I put this chapter down and life got in the way of picking it back up again. I will try to do better! Thank you to everyone who has offered reviews or PM'd with suggestions. I appreciate each and every one of them.**

**By the way, if you're not following koko23cat's "Take My Hand," do yourself a favor and start reading it! You won't be disappointed. It's just starting now, but it's an amazing story. I wasn't excited about reading an AH story, but koko has me ****convinced****! Best, Calliope**


	7. Teachers and Students

Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight.

Teachers and Students

"For someone as small as you are, you make an awfully big target!" I shouted angrily. Tex lunged, easily tagging Ana's shoulders. "Seriously, girl, do the things I teach you go in one ear and out the other?"

"Well, what am I doing wrong?" Ana called as she danced out of Tex's grasp only to be tagged on her back as she spun.

I stood watching this pathetic display with my hands on my hips. The Cullens' yard was big and open enough to make an effective training area, but it was embarrassing to have Ana's feeble skills on display. Jasper stood silently on the porch and even Emmett and Edward had come out of the house to watch.

"What are your strengths?"

Ana squealed and backed up as Tex clawed at her torso. "My speed," she cried as she twisted away, "and my size."

"Take advantage of those strengths then."

"I am!"

"No, you're not! You're barely even trying!" I snarled, growing angrier by the second. "Tex, take her down!"

Five seconds later, Ana lay face down on the ground with Tex's knee on her back. He looked at me for approval, but my approval was not so easily won. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he let Ana up. She sprang to her feet, brushing the dirt off her clothes.

"Awww, you got my leggings muddy! Miss Alice is going to be angry with me!" She finished dusting herself off and trotted over to me happily.

I was nothappy.

Ana was under-performing, and it could get her killed. She was more concerned about her new clothes than her skills. I hadn't particularly wanted her to accept the new clothes in the first place, but I was too incapacitated at the time to offer much resistance.

It was unreal how strong Jasper's gift was. Long after he left me lying on the ground beside Tex and Ana, I couldn't muster the will to move. For the first time in years, I truly lost track of time. I felt peaceful and ... _sleepy?_ It had been such a long time since I had slept that I wasn't sure. Ana and Tex seemed content though, so I decided just to let the moment be.

Eventually Tex cleared his throat, a meaningless action for one of our kind, and looked down at me. I looked up at him with glassy eyes.

"Forgiven?" he asked quietly.

My eyes drifted closed again. "Of course, brother." I gave him a half-smile. "And me?"

"Yes," he whispered.

"Good," Ana cooed, as she stroked my hair. "I hate it when you two fight."

Tex laughed. "That should be your mantra."

Just after nightfall, Miss Alice called our names. Although Tex and Ana immediately turned to look at her, I did not. I could see her just fine out of the corner of my eye and certainly didn't want her to think she had any power over me, even just to make me turn my head. Pretty stupid, I supposed, but old habits die hard,.

She was standing on the porch with that strange half-smile of hers; the one that made me nervous. The one that said she knew more about what was going on than I did. She asked if we wanted to come inside, and, before Tex or I could stop her, Ana sprang to her feet and bounded up the porch steps. Alice's smile broadened as she held the front door open, _and Ana just walked in_.

Tex immediately stiffened. His head snapped rapidly back and forth between the house and me, uncertain whether he should follow Ana or stay put. I was reasonably certain the Cullens wouldn't hurt her – they'd had plenty of cause and plenty of opportunity, and hadn't attacked her yet – but I decided to make Tex's decision easier for him.

"Go keep an eye on her," I murmured drowsily.

He must have done as I asked, because sometime later I rolled onto my back and he was gone. I looked up at the sky. Not a single star to be seen in the murky gray-black sky; it was so unlike home. I ran my fingers through the ground at my sides; it was all wrong too. Instead of dry sand, it was dense, moist soil.

Without stars or the moon, I still had no idea what time it was; it had to be after midnight though. A light misting rain started to fall, but I didn't move. I could hear laughter inside the well-lit house, and the sound of a television. It took me back to hazy memories of human days in Texas. Boiling hot, sun-drenched days. Steamy, humid nights full of cricket song, spent in front of the T.V. in my living room with my Dad and...

_Stop_.

My thoughts weren't entirely my own here. Anything in my head that I wanted to keep private would have to wait. I groaned and wiped the rain out of my eyes.

What were we still _doing _here? Hybrid vampire children? Telepaths and psychics? Weird diets? A _family_ of vampires? Things had gotten well and truly beyond my control, and anything beyond my control was a threat. The wolf - _Jacob_, I snickered to myself - was definitely a threat beyond my control.

There was no reason for us to stay here any longer. Surely the leader, Carlisle, would tell us anything we wanted to know and let us leave in peace. And remaining here, trying out the Cullens' unnatural diet, would surely cause us more misery and might even put us in danger.

So why did I want to stay so badly?

I balled up my fists and pounded them hard into the ground. It was completely illogical. I had fought for three years to earn my place at the front of Maria's army. I had killed for it. I demanded and expected to be obeyed. And while I thought I wielded my authority in Tex and Ana's best interests, I had no intention of laying that authority down.

A burst of laughter from the house interrupted my thoughts. I did an quick, almost instinctual, mental inventory of the locations of my coven-mates and all the Cullens. I could see a number of the Cullens through the windows, and the backs of Ana and Tex's heads where they sat on the couch. From the scattered bits of conversation I was overhearing, it seemed that Emmett was soundly beating Ana in a video game, and the women - who apparently didn't think this was fair - were trying to distract him so Ana could catch up.

And I could see Jasper, sitting quietly half-way up the steps with Alice's head in his lap, watching the scene in front of him.

He was still a puzzle, of course. Jasper wasn't in charge here, although surely he could have been if he wanted to fight for that position. Instead, he wasn't even central to the activity going on in the house. Still ... he stayed. Obviously, he'd found something here worth giving up control for.

Was it simply his mate, Alice? Or was it more? Was he here, in this strange coven, for himself too? Was he really after the peace that Carlisle had described this morning? The peace that had been described to me three years ago in Monterrey?

The peace that part of me wanted too.

But would I trade control for peace? Would I let someone else make all the rules and call all the shots? I growled under my breath. Well ... not today anyway. For the time being, I would simply work on being _reasonable_.

The front door opened and Esme came down the stairs, making no effort to disguise the sound of her footsteps. I turned my face towards her. She stood under a bright red umbrella half way between the porch and where I lay. Her face was concerned.

"Rebecca," she called gently, "wouldn't you like to come in out of the rain?"

I snorted quietly as I sat up. If she had any idea of the weather we had seen in the last couple of months, she would know I couldn't care less about a little wet.

"No thanks, I don't mind the rain."

She didn't give up. "But you're soaking wet! Come in and get warm and dry in the house."

_Get warm? Dry?_ As if the cold or the wet bothered me. Or bothered her, for that matter! Something about this conversation felt like a joke, and involuntary laughter bubbled up. I squashed that quickly; Esme was so genuine that I bit my tongue to keep from offending her. I still had _some _manners after all.

I shook my head and kept a straight face. "No thank you ma'am. I'm not cold, and I don't have anything dry to wear anyway."

"I know that dear. I meant that you could wear something of ours. I think Alice has picked something out for you."

_NO! Out of the question!_My instincts reared up; there was no way I was giving these Cullens that kind of power over us! Hell, earlier this evening I had refused to _look _at Alice when she called my name. I certainly wasn't going to let her dress us up like baby dolls.

I carefully controlled my expression as I responded to Esme. "Thank you for your kindness ma'am, but no. We're all just fine wearing what we've got on."

Suddenly, it got very quiet in the house. Esme looked contrite.

"Actually, dear, Tex and Ana have already changed into some clean clothes while their own are in the washing machine."

A low, angry growl escaped me. How dare Tex make a decision like that without getting my approval! In a flash, Carlisle was standing beside and slightly in front of his mate; his expression was calm, but I could see the defensiveness in his stance. His hands clenched and unclenched at his sides. Jasper and Edward were also watching me warily from the porch.

_Be calm, you stupid, over-reacting idiot,_ I berated myself. _You've caused enough scenes in the last 24 hours. And not three minutes ago, you promised yourself you'd work on being reasonable._

I took an unnecessary, yet calming, breath. Tex and I would talk about this … later. I forced a small smile. "Well, it looks like the decision's already been made then. It seems a little silly for me to be the only one still dressed like this." I gestured to my torn, dirty clothes.

"Wonderful!" Esme practically glowed from beneath her ridiculously huge umbrella. I stood up and waited for Esme and Carlisle to return to the house, but they just stood there. Esme wore an expectant look on her face.

What was she waiting for? Was she waiting for me? _Hell, no._ I'd change my clothes if I _had_ to, but if she expected me to walk under that damn-fool umbrella with her, she was out of her mind.

I heard Edward chuckle softly on the porch. Great; apparently now _I _was the joke. Annoyed, I gestured towards the house. "I'll follow you, ma'am," I said a bit more harshly than I intended.

Esme either didn't notice or didn't care. "Oh, no need," she said cryptically. "We're just waiting for Alice to turn the light on and open the window so you know where you're going."

I frowned at her, so she continued with that same warm smile.

"We thought you might be more comfortable if you didn't have to go through the house to get upstairs." No sooner were the words out of her mouth than a light came on in one of the rooms on the third floor. Alice appeared in one of the windows, which she promptly opened, and waived.

As silly as it seemed, I _was _actually kinda relieved that I didn't have to parade through the living room and up the stairs. Giving Esme and Carlisle a wide berth, I crossed the lawn to a spot beneath the open window and jumped straight up until my fingers caught the window ledge. In an instant, I hauled myself up and through the window into the brightly lit room.

_W – o – w._

Alice had considerately withdrawn from the room and shut the door before I came through the window. I looked around the vacant room simply stunned.

This room belonged to a _serious _music lover - Edward, I'd figured from the concentration of his scent. Tex would be out of his mind if he saw this room. One entire wall was covered in shelves and shelves of CDs. I took in the whole of the collection, and then let my eye drift back over my favorites. Every CD I had ever owned - and that I had ever heard of - was here. I couldn't even begin to think about how much all of this would have cost.

A bed stood in the center of the room; laying on the gold colored comforter was the clothing obviously intended for me. These clothes must have originally belonged to Bella, because although they'd been recently washed, they still smelled faintly like her. I moved closer to examine them: jeans and a long-sleeved blouse.

Thank God for that; I'd been half-afraid Miss Alice would try to put me in something ridiculously fancy like she was wearing. And I'd been completely afraid she'd put me in something that would show my arms or shoulders.

The shoes she'd laid out were _never_going to happen though. Strappy sandals just didn't mix with running through the forest. Besides ... I only ever wore two types of footwear: sneakers and cowboy boots. I'd keep my beaten up sneakers, thank you very much.

I stripped off my torn shirt and jeans and picked up the towel laying beside the clothes on the bed. The rain had washed away the worst of the dirt and grime, and I made quick work of the rest. Alice had left a brush and a silver barrette on the bed next to the clothes; I tore the brush roughly through my hair, but left the barrette, as pretty as it was. _Principle of the thing_, I told my self wryly. Apparently, that was where I drew the line - strappy sandals and silver barrettes.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror over the dresser as I laid the brush down. My own red eyes stared back at me.

Yep, it was as bad as I remembered.

My shoulders and arms were covered in battle scars and crescent-shaped bite marks. The rock hard skin of my neck was gnarled and knotty. I tried to view the damage impartially, but the whole picture was pretty ugly. I knew I should be grateful that I had so few scars on my face - only three worth mentioning – but as I ran my fingers over each raised mark, I couldn't help but hate myself.

Each of my scars was associated with a memory; I ran my hand over them as I recalled as if they had happened yesterday: _Jordan's first day - he tore into my shoulder before we could get him fed; the battle outside Crystal City - we defeated the opposing army, but not before several of their newborns took my right arm off; the fight with Louis - he challenged me one too many times... _

There was a particularly gruesome slash across my left collar bone and chest - a punishment from Maria herself. _No more v-neck t-shirts for this girl_, I thought with dark amusement, _I think even human eyes would be put off by that one_. I sighed as I shrugged into the new shirt Alice had laid out for me. The collar fell in just the right way to hide Maria's mark.

A few moments later, I was dressed and standing in front of the open window again. The drizzle had stopped and dawn was breaking weakly through the clouds to the east. I heard Ana and Tex start messing around on the ground below me. I looked down at them as they began a training exercise in the yard, although I imagined it looked a lot like a game of tag to the Cullens.

It was a simple exercise actually - fun, but effective as a training tool too. It was one of the first training exercises that newborns participated in, and one of the few that they actually enjoyed. Tagging someone on the head, neck, or shoulders was a hit. Contact on the back or the sides was half-a-hit. Teeth contact was acceptable, although breaking the skin was not. It actually took more control not to bite.

"Hey, I know that game!" I heard Emmett call out as he came into view below me. He tagged Ana's shoulders and she growled playfully before lunging at him, tagging his side, and dancing away giggling.

"We did this all the time down south," Ana called happily. "Where'd you learn it?"

"From him." Emmett gestured with his thumb to a spot underneath my window. Jasper must have been standing directly beneath where I stood."I guess he learned it the same place you did."

"I didn't learn it; I _invented_ it," Jasper said as he appeared below me, with his arms folded across his chest.

"Join us!" Ana called to Jasper. "It's more fun with more people!"

"I never participate; I just watch."

"Yeah, Bec mostly just watches too," Tex called.

"Waaaait a minute, Jasper." Emmett whirled around, allowing Ana to jump on his back and graze her teeth against his neck. He laughed as he wrapped his giant arms around her legs to hold her up. "You _do _play this game. You play it all the time with Edward and me."

Jasper stuck his hands deep in his pockets and kicked absently at the dirt at his feet. "It's not a game the way they do it, Emmett," he said quietly.

Emmett looked puzzled for a moment before his face fell. "Oh... I see," he said grimly, turning his head to look at little Ana on his back. She grinned at him as he gently but deliberately set her down. She took off after Tex across the yard.

Silently, I dropped to the ground beside Jasper, who stood motionless watching Ana and Tex exchange hits. I turned to acknowledge him, but he didn't look at me. I stood there stupidly, waiting for an acknowledgment that never came, for a few more seconds before irritation surged through me.

_Fine_.

Like an idiot, I thought maybe we had made some progress yesterday. Then again, maybe _not_. I'd shown him nothing but deference since we arrived, but obviously deference was getting us nowhere. If he _wanted _me to act like the commander I was, to ignore him as he was ignoring me, I could do that too.

He really was a jerk.

I made no effort to hide my irritation as I looked at Ana and Tex. "We need to talk. Now!" I snapped, jerking my head towards the woods.

Ana and Tex both pulled up quickly, their game immediately ending. Without waiting to see if they were following, I took off as fast as I could into the woods towards the north. I ran until I crossed a small road and found myself running on the sand. I stopped at the edge of the beach before I ran straight into the ocean.

That was where Tex and Ana found me a few minutes later, staring at the blue-gray water and the even grayer sky.

"Um ... Bec? Somethin' bothering you?" Tex asked quietly. I didn't reply. _Of course_, something was bothering me, but I had no intention of explaining myself.

"Look, if it's the clothes, I'm sorry I didn't ask you first, but Ana was so excited and I didn't see any harm, so ...," he trailed off as I looked at him for the first time. "Anyway, do you want to get off the beach?"

I gave him a faint smile. He was right, as usual. It was foolish to stand exposed on the beach, where any errant strand of sunlight could expose us to some passing human.

"Alright, let's get back in the trees."

As we walked back into the woods at a human pace, I noticed what Tex and Ana were wearing for the first time. They both looked pretty good - I guess I probably did too.

Irritation surged though me again; this whole situation was exasperating

Ana's hair had been carefully braided into two braids that started at her temples and fell half-way down her back. I'd never seen her hair done like that before. She caught me looking at her and spun around in a circle.

"Cute, huh? Miss Rosalie did my hair for me!" I nodded as she ran her hands over the braided lines, and laughed. I was a bit surprised that Ana let someone touch her head, but I decided not to make a big deal out of it. I crossed my arms and leaned against an old-growth oak, trying to look casual but churning inside. How would I direct this conversation to the conclusion I wanted without betraying how much I wanted to stay?

Ana turned to me suddenly. "Bec, what color were your eyes?"

"What?" I asked, abruptly jarred from my thoughts.

"You know, when you were human. What color were they?"

"Um, they were..." I bit my lip and forced myself to remember. "They were blue. What does it _matter_?"

She crouched down and began to inspect the ground around her new slippers. "It doesn't _matter_. I was just curious. Mine were brown." She sighed deeply before quietly rambling on, which was a sure sign that she was talking to herself. "The Cullens' eyes are such a funny color. Eat animals, get tiger eyes, I guess. But I still think red is prettier ... although Miss Rosalie is the most beautiful person I've ever seen ... Miss Bella's eyes are still a little bit red. She's younger than Bec, but a little bit older than Tex and me … Renesmee's eyes are brown ... she says her mother's were too."

As often happened, Tex was caught up in Ana's wandering thoughts. He crouched down in front of her. "I had brown eyes too. I bet Bec's blue eyes were pretty, huh?"

"My father always said so," I responded. "But I think the Cullens' eyes are beautiful. They're like amber or ... _wait_ … _what the Hell are we talking about!_"

Ana and Tex turned to look at me with surprised expressions.

"O.k., enough of this nonsense," I snapped. "It's time to be moving on, don't you think?"

Both of their faces immediately fell. They exchanged glances, but said nothing. Excellent.

"What? We'll go back to say goodbye, of course, but there's no reason to stay any longer."

Tex met my eyes challengingly for a moment before he thought better of it and dropped his gaze. "I dunno, Bec. We came here for information, and I don't know if we got what we need yet."

That was weak. If _that_ was the only reason we stayed, I wouldn't be able to keep them here long. I needed something better.

"We'll ask if there's anything else we should know before we go. I'm sure Carlisle will tell us if there's something more we need to know."

He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Well yeah, but ... I dunno, Bec." He dragged a hand down his face. "I kinda ... I like it here. For the first time in a long time, I feel safe, I guess. I'm not worried that someone's going to snatch Ana or hurt you every time one of you is out of my sight. I'd forgotten how nice it was to have a big coven to watch your back."

"Yeah, or stab you in the back. Really Tex, this isn't our coven, and if you want to go back _home_," I sneered, "then _you_ are welcome to go. But if we stay here, we're gonna have to eat like they do, and your right fist gave me the impression that you had no intention of doing that."

Tex turned pale and then a little green. "Yeah, it was pretty horrendous," he mumbled.

I shot him a scathing look, "Well, _that's_ the price of staying. So, now, do you think it's time to go?"

He said nothing; just stared at his feet. Ana stared at her feet too, before sitting down to brush some dirt off her new shoes. Then she scooted over to Tex and brushed some dirt of his new shoes too. Then she looked at my sneakers. And frowned.

I held up a single finger in warning. "I swear, Ana, if you so much as move towards my shoes, or make any comment about them at all, I will rip your tongue out."

I turned away from them trying to figure out what to do. In a flash of insight, I had the answer.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do. We'll _vote_."

Two pairs of shocked eyes met mine. Ana sprang to her feet. Tex actually growled.

"What?" I demanded.

"You are going to let us vote?" Tex said skeptically.

I responded with good humor. "Yes, I am Texas-boy. Yes I am."

He growled again and pushed Ana behind him. "I don't believe you."

I shook my head dismissively. "I really don't care what you believe. What's your vote Ana?"

She peeked her head out from behind Tex. She actually looked frightened. At least I knew I hadn't totally lost my touch.

"I vote stay." She ducked her head back behind Tex.

"Tex," I drawled. "What's your vote?"

He met my eyes and braced for an attack.

"Stay."

I would get my way, and they would never know it.

"What's your vote Bec?" Ana asked quietly.

I put on an exasperated expression and threw my hands up. "What difference does it make now that I'm out-voted?"

Tex hissed and his eyes darkened. "What difference does it make? Well, gee Bec, since you're the only of us who gets to have an opinion that matters, we'd like to know whether we're staying or going! You are _so _impossible!" he growled. "If you're going to _make_ us leave, then just say it! But, for whatever it's worth to you, and I know it's not worth much, we want to stay!"

It only took a moment for us to get in each other's faces after that, snarling dangerously. But it wasn't anger that drove me this time; it was hurt.

Only a moment after that, Ana stuck her head in-between us. "Did you know the Cullens have a pantry full of food!" she cried desperately.

It was such a ridiculous statement, and just like that, the tension between Tex and I was gone. We stared at her, looked at each other, and then back at her.

"Ana," I asked, "you do know you can't eat the food, right?"

"Of course, but I like to look at it."

There was something so earnest about her statement. It was endearing, and a little infuriating, at the same time.

Tex turned to Ana, and I saw pity plainly written on his face. What did he know that I was missing?

"Is that why you want to stay?" he asked gently.

She considered his question. "It's not the only reason, but ... I've just never seen so much food in someone's home before. It makes me feel happy."

Now I understood. If only we could leave the horrors of our prior lives behind when we entered the horrors of this one.

"Fine," I offered, throwing up my hands and pretending to relent. "If that's the way you both want it, we'll stay. But I'm not convinced either of you can eat they way they do."

Tex met my eyes angrily for a moment before turning and stalking off into deeper woods. His footfalls sped up as he began to run.

Ana looked up at me. "Do you think he wants us to follow him?" she asked.

"Hell if I know," I responded quietly, dropping absently to the ground beside her. "Don't worry, he'll be back soon." Ana started picking the little flowers white around her on the forest floor, and I moved out of her way so she could get the flowers behind me too. I lay my head down on my arms and listened hard, hoping I had been right when I told Ana that Tex would come back soon.

I was proven right. Less than 15 minutes later, we could hear him returning. He was traveling much slower and there was something heavy dragging against the ground. I looked in his direction and started to laugh.

He was dragging two mule deer. Two very dead mule deer.

I stopped laughing when he tossed them purposefully at my feet. Their cooling blood was not at all appetizing, and I assumed he hadn't captured and killed these animals just for sport. Was it even possible to drink these deer without the thrill of the hunt to make it at least a little enjoyable?

Tex turned to the animal closest to him and buried his face in its neck with a snarl. A moment later, he looked up and gestured to Ana to join him. She trembled as she slowly lifted one of the deer's legs, looked at me, and then sunk her teeth into the animal's flesh.

I moved, almost unwillingly, to the second animal. It smelled terrible – not at all like food. But if they could do this, so could I. Before I had time to change my mind, I quickly took hold of the animal's head, tilted it away from me, and bit down.

The first wave of cooling blood reminded me why this had been so bad yesterday. Still I warred with myself to find something - anything - good about this. It certainly wasn't going to be the taste. It tasted the way I imagined swamp mud would taste: thick, fetid, and unpalatable. It wasn't even warm anymore. Although it cooled the burn in my throat, it hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. At least there was a lot of blood, which could have been a good thing; e_xcept a lot of crap is still crap_, I thought wryly.

With a start, though, I realized that there was something very good about this meal.

No one died.

With the enormity of that thought still playing in my mind, I straightened up and looked at my companions.

"Let's go back."

ooooo

So that was three days ago. Since then, it seemed like we'd done nothing but _talk_. I'd done enough talking to last a life time. Uh, a second lifetime... Whatever.

The Cullens were nice people - actually they were wonderful people; some of the best I'd ever known - but _damn _could they talk.

When we got back to the Cullen house, Esme was in the garden with the little half-vampire. Ana looked at me for my permission before marching over and plopping down in the grass with them. Esme looked a bit surprised but welcomed her just the same. Renesmee seemed to take Ana's presence in stride. The two of them had been totally inseparable ever since, just chattering away in English and Renesmee's improving Spanish, except for those times that Renesmee was asleep.

Tex never let Ana too far out of his sight, and accordingly spent a good deal of his time with Bella and Edward, who never let Renesmee too far out of their sight. Rosalie was also quite friendly towards Ana, and she an Emmett were always nearby too. By my rough count, Tex and Emmett had played approximately ten million games of Halo. Perhaps I exaggerate ... slightly.

Alice and her gift still made me a bit uncomfortable, but she clearly knew it, and was going out of her way to be friendly and non-threatening. Conversations with her were easy, which was surprising since we had absolutely nothing in common. She was such a girly-girl, and I never had been. But unsurprisingly, she had steered the conversations towards topics that interested us both. I found I liked her in spite of myself.

Carlisle and Esme were simply wonderful. Esme was the kind of mother I'd always wished for as a girl. And Carlisle made me feel like I was back in school again. He was the only one I _didn't_have to make conversation with. Once a topic was begun, he could talk - meaningfully and earnestly - for hours, and I would just listen, sitting with my legs tucked under me and my chin on my knees. Eventually, Carlisle would realize how long he had been speaking and would laugh gently and tell me to stop him when he ran on like that. I don't think he realized how much I liked it.

It seemed that Carlisle knew everything about everything. Edward was walking by when I had this thought, and he snickered. He responded, "Maybe not everything about everything, but he knows something about most things."

And then there was Jasper. Well, nothing much had changed there. He mostly ignored me, and I mostly ignored him. So much the better, I thought.

But I was built for action, and all this talk was starting to wear on me. Didn't these people do anything exciting? Were their lives _always_ this dull? Periodically, when I'd had enough talk, I'd take Tex and Ana out back and train them, which was where were were now.

Carlisle and Esme clearly weren't tremendously pleased by our training – Carlisle had tried to tell me it wasn't necessary to fight here – but I didn't see how strong fighting skills could ever be a disadvantage. Even Emmett had come out to spar with Tex and Ana once or twice too, after being warned not-so-subtly by Miss Rosalie that "If you hurt that baby, I will hurt you in a much _more significant_ way."

Absently, I looked across the training field, past Tex and Emmett and Ana, and noticed Jasper. He stared straight into my eyes before he blinked and tilted his head almost imperceptibly towards the woods.

He remembered our signals, and he was signaling me to follow him. But there was no command force behind the gesture; apparently he was giving me the choice. I lowered my eyes to show my agreement. He turned his head towards the woods and his hands, which had been balled closed, relaxed. He would go first then, and he would leave a trail I could follow in a few minutes. A few seconds later, he dropped back from Edward's side and disappeared into the woods.

I set Ana and Tex free, and they casually followed Edward and Emmett into the house. I followed Jasper's trail into the woods with some apprehension. He'd ignored me for days, and now he wanted to talk privately. So privately, in fact, that he'd used signals to quietly disengage the two of us from the other Cullens and my coven. Although I had to recognize the signs of an ambush in his actions, I doubted that was what was going on here. At least, I hoped not. I would keep my eyes open just the same.

He was standing in the center of a small clearing when I came upon him. His expression was unreadable, but I was used to that by now. I ignored the nervousness – well fear really – that I always felt in his presence. I stood silently for a moment before realizing he wasn't going to speak first. I dropped my gaze.

"Did you want to speak to me about something, sir?"

When he said nothing, I glanced up at him and found his expression obviously conflicted. He stared at me intently for a moment before shaking his head dismissively and turning away.

_So he's back to ignoring me again, _I fumed. _That's it! I've had more than enough of this!_

"Damn you," I muttered angrily under my breath. "You know, I've had about as much of this as I can take," I said, my voice rising. His eyes narrowed dangerously. But I was so angry now that my vision was tinged with red around the edges.

"What the _Hell_ is your problem!" I exploded throwing up my hands. "Seriously, I am so tired of this! I really have no idea how to talk to you!"

I started to stalk away, but my anger wouldn't let me leave. I whirled around on him and stomped back to within ten feet of where he was standing. I pointed directly at his chest.

"No. You know what? That's letting you off _waaaay_ too easy!" I growled. "Apparently, all you can do is ignore me, annoy me, or infuriate me! Tex and Ana are too afraid of you to say anything, but _I'm _not afraid of you, you _sorry excuse_ for a vampire!"

I stalked back and forth in front of him before continuing. "What did I do to make you treat me like this? Oh that's right. I've done _nothing_, except defer to you time and time again! Actually, I take that back. I haven't deferred to _you _at all. I've been deferring to the Jasper Whitlock we used to talk about in Monterrey. You know, the one we all respected and admired, but I haven't seen a hint of that person here. Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to just _submit_ to you_?"_

He started to twitch a little, but his lips were tightly pressed together, and he said nothing.

"Do you want us to leave? If that's it, why can you just _say_ that instead of just skulking around ... watching us like we're gonna steal something ..."

Slowly, I trailed off as my mind came to grips with why Jasper was twitching. He was fighting back laughter.

I was going to kill him.

I dropped instantly into an attack crouch. He put a hand up, asking me to hold my attack, before he turned to me more soberly and shook his head. It was such a non-threatening, unexpected thing for him to do that I actually held my attack.

"I'm sorry," he said simply his amusement fading. "I really am so very sorry."

"Then why are you laughing," I said through clenched teeth, my body still coiled to spring at him.

"Only because I am amazed at myself – at how horribly I've screwed this situation up, when I wanted to badly to handle it well."

That was even more unexpected. I relaxed my attack pose, just slightly. He ran his hand over his face and suddenly he looked very tired.

"I wanted to speak to you when you weren't frightened … of me. I don't blame you for being frightened; it's a natural sense of self-preservation. But the only time you're not afraid is when you're furious. For example ... you're not frightened of me now. I had no intention to infuriate you, but if I help you calm down, you'll be frightened of me again. It's a bit of a catch-22."

I started to smile a little in spite of myself. Normally, I would have felt vulnerable about someone calling out my fears like that, but Jasper had such a matter-of-fact way about it.

"Yeah, well my temper gets me into trouble sometimes. I've started a couple of fights we couldn't win when I got mad an lost my 'natural sense of self-preservation.'"

Now it was his turn to grin.

"You asked what my problem is. It's simply that I don't know how to relate to you. Do I treat you like a fellow officer? A rival? A subordinate? A stranger? I really just don't know."

To be honest, I didn't know either. Since I'd been head of Maria's army, I hadn't had an equal; only subordinates, and Maria as my one superior. I thought he was finished, but he went on. "It's more than just that though. You make me uncomfortable in a way that Tex and Ana don't. You remind me of a life I didn't like very much. I've also been avoiding dealing with you out of self-preservation, I guess; I'm sorry about that."

He turned away from me and looked up at the sky with a frown. He looked so much older than his physical age. "Anyway," he muttered absently, knowing I could hear him. "Since you three are planning on stayin' for a while, you and I are just going to have to work out how to relate to each other."

I don't know what fit of madness came over me then.

In a flash, I reached out, tagged his right shoulder, and backed off quickly. He spun around hissing, instantly dropping into a crouch. The expression on his face wasn't angry though; if anything, it was incredulous.

He didn't straighten up out of his crouch, but his expression changed to one of amusement. "That's one for you. Think you can get another one?"

"Yes sir, I would certainly think so," I drawled back with deliberate nonchalance, looking down at my fingernails.

He was gone when I looked back at the place where he had been standing. I spun around at once to get my bearings before dropping into a crouch myself and falling silent. My brain kicked into high alert; I could actually feel it happen ... and it felt _good_.

It had been far too long since I had done this against someone who actually scared me. I wiped the foolish grin off my face and concentrated.

_Scenario - woods surrounding me; river behind me. Three-dimensional space in play, so don't forget about the trees; his attack can come from above._

_My strengths in this match-up? Unclear, but probably not strength, speed, or cunning; possibly quickness of strikes. I have good hands. He may underestimate me._

_Stakes - actual intent to harm one another: none. Desire to impress each other: high. _

_Expectations - crushing force of attack, but unlikely to involve strikes at kill zones. The first hit was mine, so now it's his turn to attack. Listen for any sounds that are out-of-place._

I stood silently in this state of superhuman alertness, listening to the forest's noises around me and concentrating for anything out of place. Finally, there was an unexpected sound behind me: a rustle that didn't sound like it had been created by the trees. I twisted _towards _the sound, knowing he would never come at me from a direction that I would expect. In doing so, his silent attack missed me by mere inches.

He had come at me from the opposite direction. And now we knew something more about each other: we thought alike.

We both grinned. And we circled.

He inched forward one hand outstretched and the other held high. Suddenly he sprang to my side and attacked. I was driven back by the intensity of his strikes, and although he didn't connect, I was knocked off balance. Rather than fighting my inevitable fall, I let myself drop and hit the ground rolling. I clawed at his outstretched left calf, causing him to drop back.

An instant later, I was on my feet. I realized my mistake as he wrapped his arm around my neck from behind. I hissed; I should have stayed down and rolled away. His drop back was no more than a feint.

He released me without a word and we circled again.

This wasn't just a training exercise anymore. Neither of us would go for the easy hits. This was true fight practice now; we were sizing each other up.

I lunged at him before dropping to kick his legs out from under him. He was over my head and on the other side of me before I saw him move. He grabbed for my neck, but I too could be unexpected. I brushed his side as I threw myself at his chest before spinning away.

He smiled and nodded. "Very nice," he said. I ducked my head and we continued.

I could score on him, but I couldn't take him down. He never seemed to make a mistake, and he took advantage of every one of mine. Time after time, he held my neck or head in his hands or under his teeth. Each time though, he released me quickly, before I had time to get anxious.

When you fight with a person, you really get to know them. Are they trying to hurt you? Dominate you? Do they act from insecurity or fear? Or confidence? When you're thinking this fast, there isn't any time to put up a pretense. And Jasper was pretty impressive.

It was clear that he was the much better fighter, which surprised me a little as I had been a superior fighter by the standards of the southern armies. It would have been natural for him to gloat a little bit, but I detected none of that in his face and gentle smile. He could have beaten up on me, but he didn't; in fact, I got the impression that he was letting me show him what I could do, like a teacher testing a student. And somewhere in the second hour of our sparring, we worked out our relationship.

He cocked his head to the side, and relaxed his posture.

"Ready to head back?"

"Yes sir; I'm ready if you are."

**Thank you to everyone who's sticking with me despite my dreadfully slow updates! Thanks to koko23cat, whose regular updates have inspired me to get on the ball and finish this chapter. I continue to highly recommend her new story - Take My Hand.**

**- Calliope**


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